Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: To evaluate whether intraoperative epithelial defects have an adverse effect on achieving desired refractive outcomes following laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) for myopia. Methods: Thirty eyes that had intraoperative epithelial defects on the LASIK flap were compared with sixty randomly-selected control eyes, matched for age, preoperative spherical equivalent (SE), and pre-operative cylinder, that had no intraoperative epithelial defects. Preoperative and postoperative clinical data were compared between the two groups retrospectively with statistical analyses performed using the Students t-test and analysis of means. Comparison variables included preoperative SE, three-month postoperative SE, three-month postoperative best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA), attempted correction, amount of undercorrection at three months postoperative, and whether or not LASIK enhancement was performed at three months postoperatively. Results: Eyes with intraoperative epithelial defects showed more undercorrection at three months (p= 0.005), were more likely to have lost lines of BSCVA (p= 0.0004), and underwent more enhancement procedures at 3 months (p= 0.004), in comparison to control eyes. Conclusion: Intraoperative epithelial defects during LASIK predispose eyes to increased wound healing leading to myopic regression, irregular wound healing with loss of BSCVA, and increased need for enhancement procedures.
Keywords: refractive surgery: complications • cornea: epithelium • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: out