The effect of texturing the intraocular lens edge on postoperative glare symptoms - A randomized, prospective, double-masked study

Objective: To determine whether texturing the optic edge of the intraocular lens reduces photic symptoms in patients with square-edged acrylic intraocular lense implants. Methods: Sixty patients underwent routine phacoemulsification performed by a single surgeon and were prospectively randomized to receive either the standard AcrySof MA30 intraocular lens (Alcon Laboratories, Ft Worth, Tex) (group 1) or an MA30 intraocular lens with a textured optic edge (group 2). Patients were seen at I month by an independent observer who was masked to treatment groups. A questionnaire on photic symptoms was completed, and attempts were made to elicit symptoms under mesopic and photopic conditions. Results: At 1 month postoperatively, 20 (67%) of 30 patients in group I noticed symptoms compared with 4 (13%) of 30 patients in group 2 (p < .001). The mean duration of symptoms was 3.5 weeks in group I and 1 week in group 2 (P = .01). By provocative testing under photopic conditions, symptoms could be elicited in 26 patients (87%) in group 1 and 6 (20%) in group 2. No patients in either group were symptomatic at 3 months postoperatively. Under mesopic conditions, symptoms could be elicited in 27 patients (90%) in group 1 and 11 (37%) in group 2. There was no relationship between the incidence of symptoms and the degree of intraocular lens-rhexis contact. Conclusion: Photic phenomena can be significantly reduced by texturing the edge of a square-edged profile AcrySof intraocular lens.