Comparison of tear function following laser <i>in situ</i> keratomileusis with two femtosecond laser platforms

Abstract

AIM: To evaluate changes in tear function and corneal staining in patients who underwent laser in situ keratomileusis(LASIK)using two different femtosecond lasers.METHODS:Forty eyes underwent FS200 and 40 eyes underwent VisuMax. The tear film break-up time(TBUT), Schirmer I test(SⅠt)and fluorescein staining were assessed preoperatively at 1wk; 1 and 3mo postoperatively. The analysis of variance(ANOVA)for repeat measurements or Kruskal—Wallis ranks test were used. For the differences between FS200 and VisuMax-operated eyes, a independent-samples t test or Wilcoxon matched-samples rank sum test were used.RESULTS: There were no statistical differences in any clinical outcome measure between the two kinds of lasers(P0.05), although there was a trend towards slightly reductions for TBUT in FS200-operated eyes. TBUT of the two groups eyes showed the same reductions(F=100.37, PF=112.25, PF=42.15, PF=37.27, PZ=4.88, PZ=4.28, PCONCLUSION: This study shows that changes in TBUT,Schirmer I test and corneal staining are statistically similar in LASIK using FS200 and VisuMax femtosecond lasers for flap creation. However, the VisuMax-operated eyes of TBUT after LASIK have faster recovery than in FS200 eyes.

Keywords

• femtosecond laser
• corneal staining
• tear film break-up time
• Schirmer's test
• Schirmer's test