Two-year outcomes after full-thickness astigmatic keratotomy combined with small-incision lenticule extraction for high astigmatism

Abstract

Background To evaluate clinical outcomes after full-thickness astigmatic keratotomy (FTAK) combined with small-incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) in eyes with high astigmatism. Methods This study comprised 75 eyes of 43 patients with over 4.0 diopters (D) of astigmatism who were treated with SMILE after FTAK. Visual acuities and refractive measurements were evaluated at 1 month after FTAK, and 1, 6, 12, and 24 months after SMILE. Vector analysis of the astigmatic changes was performed using the Alpins method. Results Twenty-four months after the combined procedure, the average spherical equivalent was reduced from − 6.56 ± 2.38 D to − 0.36 ± 0.42 D (p < 0.001). The uncorrected and corrected distance visual acuities improved from 1.54 ± 5.53 to − 0.02 ± 0.09 and from − 0.03 ± 0.07 D to − 0.07 ± 0.08 D (both p < 0.001), respectively. The preoperative mean astigmatism was − 5.48 ± 1.17 D, which was reduced to − 2.27 ± 0.97 D and − 0.34 ± 0.26 D at 1 month after FTAK and 24 months after SMILE, respectively (p < 0.001). The surgically-induced astigmatism after FTAK, SMILE, and FTAK and SMILE combined was 3.38 ± 1.18 D, 2.22 ± 0.84 D, and 5.39 ± 1.20 D, respectively. Furthermore, the correction index of FTAK, SMILE, and FTAK and SMILE combined was 0.63 ± 0.17, 0.90 ± 0.40, and 0.98 ± 0.06, respectively. There were no intraoperative or postoperative complications. Conclusion Our surgical procedure combining FTAK and SMILE showed good and stable clinical outcomes during two-year follow-up for the treatment of high astigmatism.

Corneal astigmatic outcomes after femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery combined with surface penetrating arcuate keratotomies

“…Therefore, we opted for initially unpaired, unopened pFAKs to negate such rare documented problems as infection, epithelial down growth or wound gape [18][19][20][21] . Arcuate keratotomies have also been shown to result in increase of higher order aberrations and by not opening them we aimed to avoid issues associated with this [28] . Although we did not perform postoperative aberrometry, which is a limitation of this study, our visual and patient reported outcome measures [12] did not raise any concerns to suspect any significant effect from higher order aberrations.…”