Background To investigate the effect of cycloplegia on the ocular biometry and intraocular lens (IOL) power in different age groups. Methods This cross-sectional study enrolled 240 right eyes of 240 healthy volunteers. Three groups were formed (range to years; group 1: 50-60, group 2: 30-40 and group 3: 10-20, respectively). We measured keratometry, central corneal thickness (CCT), white-to-white (WtW) distance, anterior chamber depth (ACD), and axial lentgh (AL) both before and after cycloplegia. The IOL powers were calculated using Sanders-Retzlaff-Kraff/theoretical (SRK/T), Holladay 1 and Haigis formulas. AL-Scan (Nidek Co., Gamagori, Japan) was used for all measurements. Results There was a significant increased in keratometry, CCT, ACD, AL, and Holladay 1 after cycloplegia (p < 0.05), whereas WtW, SRK/T, and Haigis were not changed significantly in group 1 (p > 0.05). Keratometry, SRK/T, Haigis, and Holladay 1 significantly decreased; ACD and WtW significantly increased postcycloplegia (p < 0.05) but AL and CCT did not change significantly in group 2 (p > 0.05). Significant increased in ACD, CCT, WtW, and AL, significant decreased in SRK/T and Haigis were observed postcycloplegia (p < 0.05), while the changes in keratometry and Holladay 1 were not significant in group 3 (p > 0.05). Conclusions This study demonstrated there is significant difference in many ocular parameters and IOL power formulas before and after cycloplegia. Especially, ACD showed significant changes in all age groups. Therefore, to avoid refractive prediction errors the IOL power calculation formulas using the ACD should be considered.
