Surgical monovision can help presbyopic patients achieve their goal of reduced dependence on spectacles. A trial of monovision contact lenses or spectacles may be important in helping surgeons select patients for successful surgical monovision.
Introduction: The field of refractive surgery continues to evolve amid continued concerns as to which surgical technique minimizes the risk of inducing ectasia.
Purpose:To compare clinical outcomes between PRK, LASEK and Epi-LASIK in moderately to highly myopic eyes (-4.00 D to -8.00 D).
Materials and methods:A retrospective chart review of 100 PRK eyes, 100 LASEK eyes (with alcohol) and 97 Epi-LASIK eyes was performed. Post-operative pain, uncorrected visual acuity, and corneal haze data was recorded and analyzed at post-op days 1, 4 and 7 and at post-op months 1, 3, 6 and 12.Results: In all groups surgical corrections ranged from -4.00 D to -8.00 D. There was less pain associated with the epi-LASIK procedure especially early (post-op days 1 and 4). Visual recovery was superior within the PRK group during the first post-operative week but by post-op week 4 all three were equal. Haze scores were similar but a trend for less haze was demonstrated with epi-LASIK at 6 and 12 months.
Conclusion:Epi-LASIK has a slight advantage over PRK and LASEK early on in the post-op course with regards to pain. Visual recovery is similar by 4 weeks and is better with PRK early. In addition, epi-LASIK trends toward less significant haze.
Dr. Reilly is a consultant to Alcon Laboratories, Inc. and Abbott Medical Optics, Inc. but was not at the time of the study. No other author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.
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