Abstract

Purpose: To compare the postoperative visual outcome, patient comfort and safety between trans PRK and alcohol-assisted PRK in two groups of patients.
Design: Retrospective study.
Methods: Patients were randomized into two groups,one group underwent transepithelial PRK and second group of patients underwent alcohol-assisted PRK.Surgeries were performed with the Schwind Amaris system. Clinical outcomes were patient comfort, refraction, visual acuity. Paired t tests were applied for statistics.
Results: The study evaluated 100 eyes in each group. 99% of eyes in both groups achieved an uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) of 0.1 logMAR or better. 99% eyes were within ±0.50 diopter (D) of the targeted refraction. The postoperative MSE was +0.03 D ± 0.23 (SD) and +0.01 ± 0.26 respectively after 6 months
Conclusions: The CDVA, UDVA, and safety outcomes between both groupswere comparable. Trans PRK is an all-laser procedure, which might be less stressful for the patient.