A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON VISUAL OUTCOMES IN MYOPIC ASTIGMATIC REFRACTIVE ERROR CORRECTION BY CUSTOMIZED FEMTOSECOND LASER AND MECHANICAL MICROKERATOME

To compare the visual outcomes in myopic astigmatic refractive error correction by customized femtosecond laser and mechanical microkeratome LASIK. This was a prospective observational study, performed on 200 eyes of 100 patients treated between 2016 to 2020 for myopia and astigmatism (sphere ≤ -6.00 diopters; cylinder ≤ -6.00 diopters). The first 100 consecutive eyes that had LASIK flaps created with a femtosecond laser were compared with the first 100 consecutive eyes that had flaps created with a mechanical microkeratome. All eyes received wavefront-guided LASIK treatments performed with a VISX S4 IR Advanced CustomVue excimer laser (AMO). Refractive predictability, change in mean spherical equivalent refraction, postoperative uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA), and best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA) were compared at 1 day, 1 week, and 1 month following surgery. The refractive accuracy was the same for both groups. At all follow-up, the percentage of eyes that achieved a postoperative UCVA of 20/20 or better was significantly higher in the femtosecond laser group than in the mechanical keratome group. In addition, a higher percentage of eyes in the femtosecond laser group achieved a postoperative UCVA of 20/16 at 1 month. Creating LASIK flaps with the femtosecond laser resulted in faster visual recovery and better UCVA.