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Study suggests faster, better visual recovery using off-flap epi-LASIK for myopia
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Using the off-flap epi-LASIK procedure to correct myopia can offer comparable postoperative pain, a lower level of haze formation, a quicker visual recovery and better visual quality compared with using the on-flap epi-LASIK technique, a prospective study by researchers in China suggests.
"Further investigations of a larger number of subjects and longer follow-up periods are warranted," the study authors said.
Qin-Mei Wang, MD, and colleagues at Wenzhou Medical College in Zhejiang evaluated 3-month clinical outcomes for 62 eyes of 31 patients with moderate to high myopia who underwent off-flap epi-LASIK in one eye and on-flap epi-LASIK in the contralateral eye. The study results were published in the June issue of Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science.
The investigators found no significant differences between the groups in terms of mean preoperative spherical equivalent, change in lines of best corrected visual acuity at 3 months and postoperative pain, according to the study.
Patients in the off-flap group had better uncorrected visual acuity at 3 and 5 days after surgery (P < .001), faster re-epithelialization (P < .001) and a lower level of haze at 1 and 3 months postop (P < .001 for both) compared with patients in the on-flap group, the authors noted.
At 3 months postop, contrast sensitivity function — both with and without glare — did not differ from baseline for both groups (P > .05). However, contrast sensitivity function at 18 cycles per degree with glare increased significantly in the off-flap group (P = .04).
Also at 3 months postop, wavefront aberration had increased significantly from baseline in both groups (P < .05).
"The on-flap group revealed greater but insignificant increasing amplitude in wavefront aberration compared with the off-flap group," the authors said.