Astigmatism Correction during Femtosecond Laser-assisted Transepithelial Arcuate Keratotomy Using the Wound Open Method

ABSTRACT

Purpose@#The purpose of this study was to compare corneal astigmatism correction between “wound open” and “wound intact” methods during femtosecond laser-assisted transepithelial arcuate keratotomy. @*Methods@#From April 2016 to December 2018, a retrospective survey was conducted on patients undergoing femtosecond laser cataract surgery at the Ophthalmology Department of Samsung Medical Center. Size comparison and vector analysis of corneal astigmatism before and after surgery were performed in the wound open and wound intact groups. @*Results@#In the wound open and wound intact groups, the target-induced astigmatism (TIA) was 1.28 ± 0.55; and 1.26 ± 0.29 diopters, the surgically induced astigmatism (SIA) was 0.80 ± 0.52; and 0.53 ± 0.32 diopters, and the correction index (CI) was 0.63 ± 0.28; and 0.43 ± 0.26, respectively. The astigmatism correction was superior in the wound open group (p = 0.048, p = 0.025). In a subgroup with TIA 1.2 diopters, the SIA was 1.09 ± 0.59; and 0.54 ± 0.37 diopters and the CI was 0.60 ± 0.28; and 0.36 ± 0.23 in the wound open and wound intact groups, respectively (p = 0.022, p = 0.047). Thus, astigmatism correction was superior in the wound open group. @*Conclusions@#The wound open method during femtosecond laser-assisted transepithelial arcuate keratotomy was superior for astigmatism correction compared to the wound intact method.