Abstract:To study the clinical effect of small incision cataract extraction and intraocular lens (IOL) implantation in hard nuclear cataract patients with high myopia. Methods Retrospective analysis was made in 112 patients (125 eyes) of hard nuclear cataract with high myopia who were hospitalized between January 2014 and January 2016. They were randomly divided into two groups. The treatment group (62 eyes) received small incision cataract extraction, and the control group (63 eyes) received phacoemulsification. The intraoperative and postoperative complications, and the postoperative visual acuity were observed. Non-contact corneal endothelial microscope was used to calculate the endothelial cell density and the proportion of hexagonal cells before operation and 1 w and 1 m after operation. Results The difference in the visual acuity was significant between the two groups 1 d after operation (p < 0.05). Both the endothelial cell density and the proportion of hexagonal cells of the two groups significantly decreased after operation (p < 0.05). The endothelial cell density of the control group was lower than that of the treatment group 1 w after operation (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the proportion of hexagonal cells between the two groups 1 w and 1 m after operation (p > 0.05). The intraoperative and postoperative complications inthe treatment group were significanthy lower than those in the control group (p < 0.05). Conclusions Small incision cataract extraction with IOL implantation is fit for high myopia with hard nuclear cataract. It can improve postoperative visual acuity and reduce postoperative complications, which is worth spreading in clinic.