Published online Dec 30, 2011. doi: 10.5318/wjo.v1.i1.11
Revised: December 23, 2011
Accepted: December 23, 2011
Published online: December 30, 2011
AIM: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of laser-assisted subepithelial keratectomy (LASIK) for myopic correction done under thin flaps (120 μm) and compare with results obtained under thick flaps (150 μm).
METHODS: The study included 150 myopic eyes of 75 patients without previous refractive surgery who underwent LASIK prospectively. Two microkeratome heads (90 and 130) were used to create a flap with thickness of 120 μm and 150 μm, respectively. Thin flap group (120 μm) included 75 eyes while thick flap group included 75 eyes. Follow-up period was 12 mo. Efficacy, safety, and stability were evaluated and compared between the two groups.
RESULTS: In 150 eyes, the mean preoperative spherical equivalent refraction was -8.65 ± 2.6 D, mean sphere was -4.4 ± 3.5 D, and mean cylinder was -1.0 ± 1.3 D. The amount of ablation was significantly larger in the thin flap (88.5 ± 32.21 μm) group than in the thick flap group (64 ± 28.13 μm). Percentage of safety was higher in the thin flap group (94.8%) than in the thick flap group (91.7%). There were no intraoperative complications, especially flap-related problems. Subjective symptoms of dry eye occurred in 20.7% and 33.3% of eyes in the thin and thick flap groups, respectively.
CONCLUSION: Thin-flap LASIK is effective and safe in correcting myopic defects. It achieves better visual results, rapid visual recovery, and stable postoperative refraction than LASIK with thick flaps.