Abstract
Purpose :
To compare the effect of femtosecond laser or mechanical keratome for LASIK on subjective quality of vision.
Methods :
Fifty-one patients were randomized to receive femtosecond laser for LASIK for one eye and mechanical keratome for LASIK for the fellow eye. Study participants completed a questioner assessing quality of vision and visual symptoms (daytime and nighttime glare, nighttime and daytime clarity, halos, haze, dry eye, severe dry eye, grittiness, fluctuating vision, and double vision) at postoperative months 1, 3, 6, and 12.
Results :
At 1,3,6, and 12 months postoperatively, there was no significant difference in any individual symptoms between the femtosecond laser and mechanical keratome group. When comparing their vision before and after LASIK at postoperative month 12, 84.4% patients reported better vision after LASIK in the eye treated with mechanical keratome, whereas 80% patients reported better vision after LASIK in the eye treated with femtosecond laser (P=0.3901). Seven percent of patients reported worse dry dye symptoms in the eye treated with mechanical keratome compared to before LASIK while 9% of patient reported worse dry eye symptoms in the eye treated with femtosecond laser compared to before LASIK (P=0.3489). When comparing fluctuation in vision, 9% of patient reported more fluctuation of vision in the eye treated with mechanical keratome while 13% of patients reported more fluctuation of vision in the eye treated with femtosecond laser (P=0.2540).
Conclusions :
At 12 months after surgery, there were no significant difference between reported quality of vision between femtosecond laser and mechanical keratome for LASIK.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.