Effect of Intracor surgery on visual acuity and Refractive error in presbyopic people

Presbyopia is an age-related loss of lens accommodation that results in an inability to focus at near distances. Intracor is a new surgical treatment for presbyopic patients which claim to be a replacement for near spectacle. Due to great desire among patients for not using spectacles, evaluation of efficiency and results of this surgical treatment has a great significance. The purpose of this study was determining visual acuity and refraction after Intracor surgery in presbyopic patients. In an observational cohort study, 22 eyes (left eye: 11, right eye: 11) of 15 presbyopic patients underwent intracore surgery were enrolled. Refractive error and visual acuity were evaluated before and 12 months after surgery. Patients with history of previous ocular surgery, corneal irregularity or incident of cataract were excluded. Statistical analyzes was performed by SPSS-19 software. Paired T-test and Wilcoxon signed ranked test was used. Mean age of patients was 50.1 ± 4 years (range 44.5 to 66 years). Average monocular uncorrected distance visual acuity increased from 0.74 ± 0.20 decimal at base line to 0.85 ± 0.16 decimal at the last visit (P< 0.01). Average binocular uncorrected distance visual acuity increased from 0.85 ± 0.16 decimal at base line to 0.92 ± 0.09 decimal at the last visit (P < 0.05). Average monocular and binocular near visual acuity with distance correction increased from 0.27 ± 0.07 and 0.30 ± 0.07 decimal at base line to 0.39 ± 0.15 and 0.50 ± 0.21decimal at the last visit respectively (P < 0.01). Average near visual acuity without distance correction increased from 0.23 ± 0.05 decimal at base line to 0.68 ± 0.24 decimal at the last visit (P< 0.001). Average of monocular spherical refraction and monocular and binocular corrected near visual acuity had a statistically significant decrease (P<0.001). There was a statistically significant improvement in both distance and near visual acuity after Intracor surgery. Improvement in near visual acuity was more significant.