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Dry eye, visual fluctuations, foreign body sensation increase early after LASIK, PRK
Dry eye symptoms, visual fluctuations and foreign body sensations are increased after both LASIK and PRK, according to a study.
The prospective, randomized clinical trial included 68 eyes of 34 patients treated with wavefront-guided LASIK in one eye and PRK in the fellow eye. Preoperatively and postoperatively, patients completed a questionnaire on the severity of dry eye symptoms, vision fluctuation and foreign body sensation.
For both LASIK and PRK, dry eye symptoms increased significantly from preop to 1 month postop (P = .01 and P = .02, respectively). At 1 month postop, dry eye severity also increased significantly for both procedures (P = .001 and P = .008, respectively). By 3 months, dry eye scores and severity returned to baseline for LASIK and PRK
Visual fluctuations increased significantly for both LASIK and PRK at 1 month postop (P = .0005 and P = .000001, respectively), 3 months postop (P = .001 and P = .002, respectively) and 6 months postop (P = .004 and P = .003, respectively). Symptoms returned to baseline at 12 months postop.
Eyes treated with LASIK and PRK experienced a mild increase in foreign body sensation at 1 month, which returned to baseline by 3 months.