FRIDAY, Dec. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Visual and refractive outcomes vary in patients with low to moderate myopia who undergo laser epithelial keratomileusis (LASEK) or laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK), but the differences are clinically insignificant, according to a report in the December issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology. Nomogram adjustment may be indicated when LASIK surgeons decide to perform surface ablation, the authors write.
Faisal M. Tobaigy, M.D., of Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues conducted a retrospective control-matched chart review of 2,257 eyes treated for myopia (up to -6.00 diopters) and astigmatism (up to -2.25 diopters) with LASEK or LASIK. Of these, 122 LASEK eyes were matched with 122 LASIK eyes to determine visual and refractive outcomes.
The mean postoperative uncorrected visual acuity was 20/21 for LASEK and 20/23 for LASIK. In the LASEK group, 80 percent of eyes were within 0.50 diopters of the target correction and 99.2 percent were within 1.00 diopter, compared to 71.3 percent and 92.6 percent, respectively, in the LASIK group. Two LASEK eyes (1.6 percent) were retreated for residual myopia compared with 11 LASIK eyes (9 percent). No eye required retreatment for overcorrection, although LASEK-treated eyes were more likely to be overcorrected than LASIK-treated eyes.
"Slight differences in the visual and refractive results between LASEK and LASIK were observed, despite the use of the same nomogram. Both procedures were safe, effective and predictable," the authors conclude.
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