Better quality of vision with LASIK vs. PRK did not last after 1 month postop

LASIK offered patients better visual quality at 1 month postop compared with PRK, but the quality of vision was not significantly better at subsequent follow-up visits, according to a study.

Thirty-four patients with myopia underwent LASIK in one eye and PRK in the other eye in a prospective, randomized case series. Researchers compared the quality of vision at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery. At baseline, there were no significant differences in quality of vison.

At 1 month, eyes that underwent LASIK had significantly better visual quality compared with eyes that underwent PRK. The PRK eyes had significantly worse clarity at night (P = .0015) and during the day (P = .0013), subjectively worse overall vision (P = .024), worse fluctuation in vision (P = .006) and worse double vision (P = .022) compared with LASIK.

Additionally, PRK eyes with higher preoperative higher-order aberrations had worse daytime and nighttime clarity, plus more vision fluctuation, than LASIK-operated eyes.

However, there were no significant differences in visual quality between LASIK and PRK eyes after 1 month.

“In our study, we found significant differences in all study groups and subgroups at the 1-month postoperative visit but no significant differences 3 months postoperatively. In addition, we found that these differences were greater in eyes with high baseline [higher-order aberrations],” the researchers wrote. – by Robert Linnehan

Disclosure: Lee reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.

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Source:

Lee MD, et al. J Cataract Refract Surg. 2017;doi:10.1016/j.jcrs.2016.10.021.