To analyze the operative difficulty of cataract phacoemulsification in an eye with shorter axial length and discuss its preventive measures.A retrospective study was performed to analyze the 122 patients (143 eyes) who had undergone cataract phacomulsification. Their ocular axial lengths were 20.21 to 22.10 mm.Because these patients had shorter ocular axis, shallower anterior chamber depth, narrower space in the anterior ocular segment and higher vitreous pressure, the operation was hard to perform. The rate of posterior capsular rupture was 7.69%. The postoperative inflammatory reaction was severe. The rate of reversible corneal edema (29.37%) was obviously higher than that in cataractous eyes with normal ocular axis (6.7%, P < 0.01), and also higher than that in eyes with normal ocular axis and hard nucleus (12.5%, P < 0.05).It is emphasized that the correct technique of incision, application of chopping and breaking nucleus technique, lower energy and higher aspiration for effective phacoemulsification with the help of Viscoat viscoelastic material and maintenance of deep anterior chamber are the key procedures to obtain satisfactory operative results.