Purpose:
To report paitent's subjective pain scale after laser–assisted subepithelial keratectomy (LASEK) with the use of pharmacologic pain control.
Methods:
29 consecutive cases of LASEK on 15 paitents performed by the same surgeon were involved in the study. Laser machines used were the VISX® S4 and the Technolas® 217A. Patents received one tablet of Mepergan® (25 mg each of meperidine and promethazine) approximately 20 minutes prior to LASEK procedure. The application time of alcohol for LASEK was 50 seconds. Followed by cold BSS® (Balanced Salt Solution) irrigation. The hinge position was routinely at 12 – 1 o'clock. After excimer laser ablation, the eye was again irrigated with cold BSS, the epithelial flap was replaced, and a Ciba Night and Day® (8.6 base curve) was placed on the eye. Patients were given a prescription for Mepergan® for pain control every 4–6 hrs. On post operative day one, patients were asked to rate their pain for the last 24 hours on a scale of 0 to 10 with "0" being "no pain" and "10" being "the worst pain you can imagine."
Results:
Average reported pain was 2.205. Range was 1 (n=11 cases) through 6 (n=3 cases). 80% (n=12) of patients reported pain of 4 or less, with 83% (n=10) of those patients reporting a pain of 2 or less. Only 20% (n=3) of patients reported pain that would be considered moderate. These were one report of bilateral "5", one report of bilateral "6", and one report of unilateral "6" (this patient's other eye was "2")
Conclusions:
LASEK can be a near painless procedure when patients are given adequate analgesia during the peri–operative period.
Keywords: refractive surgery • cornea: epithelium • refractive surgery: other technologies