Earlier this year, a randomised controlled clinical trial was published from the group at St Thomas’ Hospital in London, directly comparing outcomes of conventional cataract surgery with laser-assisted cataract surgery. With 200 eyes in each trial group, the study found virtually no meaningful differences in outcome for the two groups in terms of level of vision, glasses requirement, foveal thickness, or corneal parameters after surgery. (The rates of posterior capsule tears were higher in the conventional group, and anterior capsule tears higher in the laser group; arguably posterior capsule tears are easier to deal with because a lens can always be captured through the capsulorrhexis for optimal centration).
