Duration of contact lens removal before myopic refractive surgery

Abstract

Purpose: To compare refractive surgery outcomes in patients with different periods without contact lenses prior laser surgery. Materials and methods: Patients included in this study underwent myopic keratorefractive laser surgery between January 2005 and December 2014. Patients were divided into three groups based on the duration of time passed free of soft contact lens wearing prior to final preoperative evaluation and surgery (<24 h, 1–3 days or >3 days). Spectacle wearers served as a control group. Postoperative safety index, efficacy index and % of eyes within 0.5 D of the four groups were compared. A general linear model was used to compare main outcomes while adjusting for age, gender, preoperative measurements, and procedure type (LASIK vs PRK). Results: Overall, 19,747 eyes were included. Soft contact lenses were worn by 42.3% (<24 h: 4.8%, 1–3 days: 18.5% and >3 days: 19.0%) and spectacles by 57.7% prior to surgery. In the PRK group, after adjusting for differences in baseline variables, the <24-h group had a significantly lower efficacy index than all the other groups. There were no significant differences between groups in terms of % eyes within ±0.5 D of intended correction ( p = 0.55) or safety index (0.20). In the LASIK group, after adjusting for differences in baseline variables, there were no significant differences between groups in all primary outcomes. Conclusion: Soft contact lenses should be removed at least 24 h prior to final preoperative evaluation and refractive surgery, especially for patients undergoing PRK.

Impact of removing soft contact lenses 1 day versus 1 month before surgery on the outcomes of microkeratome laser in situ keratomileusis

“…The main focus of this study was to compare the outcomes of a speci c refractive surgical modality, LASIK, after discontinuation of SCL in a large sample of patients. However, only two other studies have focused on SCL removal and refractive surgery in general [14,15].…”

“…In recent years, many recommendations and guidelines have proposed the removal of SCL at least 3 to 14 days before LASIK, but still, there are no consensus [16,17]. Shehadeh-Mashor et al [14], in their casecontrol study concerning the duration of SCL removal before myopic refractive surgery, have found a signi cant difference between the patients who removed their SCL in less than 1 day and those who removed them in more than 1 day before the PRK procedure. However, they found no signi cant difference between those who discontinued the SCL between 1 to 3 days and those who discontinued them for more than 3 days before PRK.…”

Effect of mitomycin-C on corneal endothelial cell parameters after refractive surface ablation procedures

“…Cases with mesopic pupil diameter > 6 mm or patients whose eyes could not belong to the same treatment group because of differing ablation depths were also excluded. Patients using contact lenses were asked to stop wearing their lenses for 1–2 and 3–4 weeks preoperatively for soft and hard lenses, respectively [ 14 ]. Masking was followed appropriately; the surgeon, person performing specular microscopy, and the person who read and interpreted the printout reports of specular microscopy were masked.…”

Effects of long‑term soft contact lens wear on corneal epithelial thickness after small incision lenticule extraction

“…The corneal epithelial thickness can increase following discontinuation of SCL wear; however, the corneal epithelial thickness is unable to reach the normal range exhibited by people without SCL wear ( 11 ). A previous study ( 12 ) demonstrated that the corneal epithelial thickness reached stability following discontinued wear of SCLs within 2 weeks; nevertheless, individual variation should not be discounted.…”