Comparison of Postoperative Results of One Day Laser-assisted in-situ Keratomileusis, Laser-assisted Sub-epithelial Keratectomy Surgery, and Conventional Surgery

Purpose: To evaluate the postoperative results of one day laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis (LASIK) or laser-assisted sub-epithelial keratectomy (LASEK) procedures, which were performed on the same day as preoperative examinations, including fundus examinations after dilating the pupil. Methods: This study included 226 LASIK patients (226 eyes) and 201 LASEK patients (201 eyes) who underwent surgery with Visumax and EX500 from January to December in 2016. We divided the patients into two groups. The one-day surgery group (one-day group) underwent surgery on the same day as preoperative examinations, including dilated fundus examinations. The scheduled surgery group (scheduled group) underwent surgery on the scheduled day after the preoperative examinations. In the one-day group, the surgery was usually performed 2-5 hours after instillation of the pupil dilating eye drops. Results: Among LASIK patients, the one-day group included 109 patients and the scheduled group included 117 patients. The postoperative myopic errors were 0.06 +/- 0.37 diopters (D) and 0.07 +/- 0.36 D, respectively (p = 0.91). The postoperative astigmatism was -0.38 +/- 0.24 D and -0.37 +/- 0.24 D, respectively (p = 0.77). The postoperative uncorrected visual acuity was -0.05 +/- 0.03 logMAR and -0.06 +/- 0.03 logMAR, respectively (p = 0.13). Among LASEK patients, the one-day group included 107 patients and the scheduled group included 94 patients. The postoperative myopic error was 0.18 +/- 0.52 D and 0.22 +/- 0.54 D, respectively (p = 0.95). The postoperative astigmatism was -0.48 +/- 0.30 D and -0.46 +/- 0.29 D, respectively (p = 0.14). The postoperative uncorrected visual acuity was -0.05 +/- 0.03 logMAR and -0.06 +/- 0.03 logMAR, respectively (p = 0.33). Conclusions: The postoperative results of the one-day LASIK and LASEK patients, whose surgery was performed on the same day as the preoperative examinations, were not significantly different from those using the conventional method.