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Meta-Analysis
. 2025 Jan 24;20(1):e0317179.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0317179. eCollection 2025.

The corneal biomechanical changes of phacoemulsification in cataract patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Xinru Li  1 , Xiaofeng Li  1 , Lintong Tan  2 , Hu Chen  2 , Yuan Lai  2
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

The corneal biomechanical changes of phacoemulsification in cataract patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Xinru Li et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the corneal biomechanical properties of phacoemulsification in the treatment of cataract patients.

Methods: Pertinent studies were searched in PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and clinicaltrials.gov., as of November 05, 2024. The reference lists of related published reviews were included as well. This meta-analysis was performed with Stata Software and Review Manager, we used mean difference (MD) to evaluate the statistical consequence, using I2 statistic to assess the heterogeneity. Subgroup analysis were performed under the occurrences of high heterogeneity. We used eleven items to describe the characteristics of included studies, publication bias was performed with Egger's test. The quality assessment were evaluated with 3 items by Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) items.

Results: Thirteen eligible studies were identified for data synthesis and assessment. According to the result of meta-analysis, the central corneal thickness(CCT) (MD = 10.50, 95% CI: [5.01, 15.98]; P<0.05) and intraocular pressure(IOPg)(MD = -0.73, 95% CI: [-1.26, -0.19]; P<0.05) of cataract patients after phacoemulsification was significantly higher than the control groups. The values of corneal hysteresis(CH) (MD = -0.43, 95% CI: [-0.62, -0.23]; P<0.05) and corneal resistance factor(CRF) (MD = -0.49, 95% CI: [-0.64, -0.33]; P<0.05) after phacoemulsification surgery were statistically lower than the control groups. While the values of IOPcc did not show statistically different (MD = -0.13, 95% CI: [-0.67, 0.41]; P = 0.64).

Conclusion: Included data analysis indicated that the values of CCT, CH, CRF and IOPg showed statistical change in cataract patients after phacoemulsification surgeries compared with control groups. There is a correlation between corneal biomechanics and phacoemulsification surgeries.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. PRISM Flow Diagram of the literature search process.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Comparison of CCT values.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Comparison of CH values.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Comparison of CRF values.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Comparison of IOPg values.
Fig 6
Fig 6. Comparison of IOPcc values.
Fig 7
Fig 7. The sensitivity analysis of CCT.
Fig 8
Fig 8. The sensitivity analysis of CH.
Fig 9
Fig 9. The sensitivity analysis of IOPg.
Fig 10
Fig 10. The sensitivity analysis of IOPcc.
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