The Change of Corneal Sensation Following LASIK

ABSTRACT

To evaluate the change of corneal sensation following LASIK, the corneal sensation of 26 eyes(14 patients) were examined before and 1 week, 2 week, 1 month, 2 month, 3 month, and 6 month after LASIK. The corneal sensation was measured on the following points of the center, temporal, inferior, nasal, and superior side with an esthesiometer of Cochet-Bonnet type. Each measurement of side point was taken 3mm apart from corneal center. The eyes were divided into two groups; group I was eyes with a corneal ablation depth under 100micrometer and group II was those with a value over 100micrometer. Corneal sensations in all cases were not recovered to the level of preoperation until 6 month after LASIK. The pattern of recovery was indifferent among the various points on the cornea except for the hinge side, which has shown more rapid recovery than any other area. The recovery speed between the hinge side and other areas was statistically significant(P<0.05). A decrease of corneal sensation was more prominent in group I than group II. With these results, we are able to suggest that lamellar cut of the cornea by LASIK procedure makes a damage on the corneal sensation and the depth of ablation might cause an influence on the amount of loss and recovery of the corneal sensation.