To evaluate the short-term clinical outcome of femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery at the initial phase and to compare it with results from conventional phacoemulsification.

This retrospective study was performed on 50 eyes who underwent femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery and 50 eyes who underwent conventional phacoemulsification. The short-term outcomes included uncorrected and corrected distance visual acuity and spherical equivalent. The complications of femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery were evaluated, and the prevalences of complications between the initial 25 eyes and latter 25 eyes of the cases were compared to evaluate the importance of the learning curve.

There were no significant differences in uncorrected ( p = 0.78) and corrected ( p = 0.89) distance visual acuity between groups 1 month postoperatively. There was no difference in spherical equivalent ( p = 0.09). The phacoemulsification time was not different between groups ( p = 0.15). However, there was a significant decrease in cumulative dissipated energy in the femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery group ( p = 0.04). There were complications during femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery, such as subconjunctival hemorrhage, miosis, early entry corneal incision, and incomplete corneal incision. The prevalence of complications in the latter 25 eyes was less than that of the first 25 eyes treated with femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery; the prevalence of subconjunctival hemorrhage was reduced significantly ( p = 0.02).

The short-term clinical outcomes of the femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery group at the initial phase were not different, and in some cases, better than those of the conventional phacoemulsification group. A learning period is therefore required during the initial phase of femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery.