To evaluate the surgical results and efficacy of laser refractive cataract surgery with a femtosecond laser compared with conventional phacoemulsification.

Thirty-one eyes from 31 patients underwent laser refractive cataract surgery (femtosecond laser group), and conventional cataract surgery with phacoemulsification was performed in 30 eyes from 30 patients (conventional group). Best corrected visual acuity, spherical equivalent, surgical induced astigmatism, corneal and ocular astigmatism, total high order aberration, Strehl ratio, objective scatter index, diameter of continuous curvilinear capsulorrhexis (CCC), distance from visual axis to the center of CCC, intraocular lens (IOL) tilt, mean absolute error, effective phaco time, average phaco power and operation time were measured to compare the 2 groups.

No significant differences were found between best corrected visual acuity, spherical equivalent, surgical induced astigmatism, corneal and ocular astigmatism, total high order aberration, Strehl ratio, objective scatter index, mean absolute error, effective phaco time, average phaco power or operation time. Significant differences were found in the diameter of CCC, distance from visual axis to the center of CCC, and IOL tilt.

Results of laser refractive cataract surgery with a femtosecond laser showed more precise CCC, and more stable IOL position than conventional cataract surgery.