LASIK Flap Creation With the Ziemer Femtosecond Laser in 787 Consecutive Eyes

Abstract

The Ziemer FEMTO LDV laser created thinner LASIK flaps than intended but with a low standard deviation and minimal intraoperative complications.

Flap characteristics, predictability, and safety of the Ziemer FEMTO LDV femtosecond laser with the disposable suction ring for LASIK

“…In our previous study, when we used the reusable FEMTO LDV suction ring in 787 eyes, flap thickness averaged 90.0 ± 5.0 mm. 6 In it, the first and second cut flaps did not differ significantly (right eye 90.0 ± 5.5 mm vs left eye 90.1 ± 4.6 mm). Thus, both reusable and disposable suction rings gave similar results for flap characteristics.…”

“…6 Increasing flap thickness was associated with increasing corneal thickness and flatter keratometric value. Furthermore, we found that increasing flap diameter was associated with thinner flap thickness in myopic eyes.…”

“…Furthermore, we found that increasing flap diameter was associated with thinner flap thickness in myopic eyes. 6 With the reusable 9.0-mm suction ring, increasing flap diameter was associated with increasing preoperative spherical equivalent refraction in myopic eyes. In all eyes treated with the 9.0-mm suction ring, increasing flap diameter was associated with steeper keratometric value K 1 .…”

“…The corneal flap was cut with the FEMTO LDV as described previously. 6 The aimed flap thickness was 90 mm in all the eyes and was determined with the appropriate intershield. The size of the suction ring was typically 9.5 mm (331 eyes), but was 9.0 mm in 10 eyes and 10.0 mm in one eye depending on the corneal curvature.…”

“…The technological evolution of flap creation has emerged from manually guided mechanical microkeratomes to automated microkeratomes, single-use microkeratomes, and most recently to femtosecond laser technology. There are several femtosecond lasers on the market, including Intralase (Abbot Medical Optics, Irvine, CA, USA), [2][3][4][5] FEMTO LDV (Ziemer Ophthalmic Systems, Port, Switzerland), 6 FEMTEC (20/10 Perfect Vision, Heidelberg, Germany), 7 and VisuMax (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Jena, Germany). 8,9 Femtosecond laser technology has been shown to have some advantages in comparison to microkeratome, for example, less variation in flap thickness and a more uniform flap thickness throughout the whole flap compared with microkeratome-based flap.…”