Results
Tables 
Descripte statistics for categorical measures per group
Descriptive statistics for baseline continuous features per groupVA: visual acuity; CDE: cumulative dissipated energy; BSS: balanced salt solution; CCT: central corneal thickness; ECD: endothelial cell density.As demonstrated in these tables, the groups show differences in sex (the FLACS group has a higher proportion of men), and BSS was lower within the same group (close to an average effect size, Cohen’s d = 0.462, p-value = 0.027). All the other measurements showed that both groups are well balanced regarding demographic and clinical characteristics (small Cohen’s d effect sizes close to 0.2), i.e., not statistically and clinically relevant. Since the study is observational, to estimate the effects of PHACO vs. FLACS, considering the average consumption of BSS was necessary to match the groups. Gender was not used in the modeling because, regardless of its statistical significance, it is not clinically relevant, given that our results are anatomical measurements.After three months, evidence was lacking between the groups in the CCT; the difference was neither statistically nor clinically relevant. If all patients were treated with laser, the mean CCT would be − 0.08 lower (robust standard error [RSE] = 8.64, p-value = 0.992, 95% confidence interval [CI] = − 17.03–16.86) on the CCT measure than the potential outcome means of 527.74 (RSE = 5.59, p-value < 0.001, 95% CI = 516.77–538.71). In other words, it is not statistically significant.However, for ECD, a significant and clinically significant difference was found; if all patients were treated with laser, the mean ECD would be 423.55 greater (RSE: 86.09; p-value < 0.001; 95% CI: 254.81–592.29) than the ECD potential means of 1656.423 among the conventional arm (RSE: 74.90; p-value < 0.001; 95% CI: 1509.62–1803.23).Table 
Descriptive statistics for post intervention outcomes (left side) and treatment average effect adjusted by BSS (right side)CCT: central corneal thickness; ECD: endothelial cell density; N: sampleFinally, Table 
Comparison of specular microscope data between groupsSD: standard deviation of the size; CV: coefficient of variation of the size; CI: confidence interval; N: sample.