Short-term visual rehabilitation after LASIK

Purpose: To determine the early course of visual recovery after LASIK for myopia. Methods: In eight eyes visual acuity, both uncorrected and corrected, objective refraction, topography and contrast sensitivity were measured six times during the first day, twice daily for two days and after 1 week. Results: Patients experienced considerable variability in achieving best corrected visual acuity. 80% of patients already had uncorrected visual acuity of 0.5 or better 1 day after surgery. By the 16th hour 97% of preoperative best spectacle-corrected visual acuity was achieved. The mean radius of anterior corneal curvature was already relatively constant after 3 h. After that the corneal topography was fairly stable. Conclusions: Vision recovers rapidly after LASIK. Visual rehabilitation was reached after 16 h in most cases. Mesopic vision, however, was reduced after LASIK.