Clinical outcomes of photoastigmatic refractive keratectomy for the correction of residual refractive errors following cataract surgery.

PURPOSE: To assess the clinical outcomes of photoastigmatic refractive keratectomy (PARK) for the correction of residual refractive errors after cataract surgery.

METHODS

This study evaluated 88 eyes of 66 consecutive patients with mean spherical equivalent refraction of -3.16±1.71 diopters (D) who underwent PARK to correct refractive errors after phacoemulsification with intraocular lens (IOL) implantation. Patient age at the time of surgery was 65.2±12.7 years. Safety, efficacy, predictability, stability, and adverse events of the surgery were assessed 1, 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively.

RESULTS

At 1 year postoperatively, uncorrected distance visual acuity and corrected distance visual acuity were 0.08±0.16 logMAR (Snellen 20/25) and -0.08±0.11 logMAR (Snellen 20/16), respectively. Safety and efficacy indices were 1.08±0.25 and 0.76±0.28, respectively. At 1 year, 68% of eyes were within ±0.50 D and 88% were within ±1.00 D of targeted correction. Manifest refraction changes of -0.06±1.06 D occurred from 1 week to 1 year. No vision-threatening complications occurred during the observation period.

CONCLUSIONS

Photoastigmatic refractive keratectomy is safe and moderately effective in the correction of residual refractive errors in pseudophakic eyes, suggesting its viability as a surgical option for the treatment of such eyes.