Retreatment after wavefront-guided and standard myopic LASIK

Purpose: To assess and compare the clinical outcomes of conventional LASIK retreatments after primary wavefront-guided and standard myopic LASIK. Design: Retrospective review of interventional case series. Participants: One hundred fifty-four eyes of 114 consecutive patients underwent a conventional LASIK retreatment after previous wavefront-guided and standard myopic LASIK. The eyes were divided into two groups: standard conventional myopic LASIK (SM) (n = 101) and wavefront-guided myopic LASIK (WM) (n = 53). Intervention: Retreatment LASIK was performed by lifting the original flap and using an excimer laser. Main Outcome Measures: Uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA), best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA), refraction, and complications were evaluated at a mean follow-up of 7.8 +/- 5.5 months after retreatment (range, 3-26). Results: At the last visit, mean spherical equivalents (SEs) were -0.17 +/- 0.42 diopters (D) in the SM group and -0.11 +/- 0.34 D in the WM group (P = 0.394). An SE of +/- 0.50 D was achieved in 87% (88/101) of SM eyes and 91% (49/53) of WM eyes. Seventy-five percent of eyes in both groups had UCVA >= 20/20. All eyes in the WM group and 98% of eyes in the SM group had 20/30 or better UCVA. All eyes in both groups had a postoperative BSCVA of 20/25 or better. No eyes lost 2 lines of BSCVA in either group. No sight-threatening complications were encountered. The number of eyes with pre-retreatment optical symptoms was reduced to half after retreatment. Conclusions: Our results suggest that retreatment with conventional LASIK is a safe, effective, predictable way of dealing with different types of residual refractive errors after both wavefront-guided and standard myopic LASIK.