Objective To investigate the corrective effect of phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation combined with limbal relaxing incision (LRI) on cataract patients with corneal astigmatism. Methods A total of 39 patients (41 eyes) with cataract complicated by corneal astigmatism (the astigmatism was －2.0 to －0.5 D) who visited Department of Ophthalmology of The First Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University from Sep. 2023 to May 2024 were enrolled. During phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation, LRI was performed to correct corneal astigmatism. Preoperative corneal astigmatism was measured using corneal topography and IOLMaster. Corneal astigmatism was re-examined 1 and 3 months after surgery, and Alpins method was used to analyze the changes of corneal astigmation before surgery and 1 month after surgery. The primary vector parameters, such as target induced astigmatism vector (TIA), surgically induced astigmatism vector (SIA), difference vector (DV), correction index and flattening index (FI), were observed. Results The preoperative corneal astigmatism was (－1.07±0.27) D, which was decreased to (－0.53±0.23) D 1 month postoperatively and (－0.55±0.24) D 3 months postoperatively (both P＜0.05). Vector analysis of corneal astigmatism showed that the TIA was (1.07±0.27) D, SIA was (0.99±0.42) D, DV was (0.53±0.24) D; correction index was 0.93±0.36 (the ideal value is 1), suggesting slight undercorrection; the median of the angle of error had an absolute value of 18.15°, and the interquartile range was 15.19°; and the flattening effect was (0.70±0.45) D, the FI was 0.65±0.42, and the success rate was (50.42±19.29)%. Conclusion The combination of LRI with cataract surgery for correcting corneal astigmatism has demonstrated favorable corrective outcomes, especially for the correction of low to moderate corneal astigmatism.