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  • FLEx in myopic eyes produces fewer fourth-order aberrations than wavefront LASIK

    Refractive Mgmt/Intervention

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    This retrospective study compared the results of femtosecond lenticule extraction (FLEx) and wavefront-guided LASIK (wfg-LASIK) in myopic eyes and found that the procedures are essentially equivalent in terms of visual acuity and total higher-order aberration (HOA) induction. However, the characteristics of HOA induction are different, with FLEx inducing significantly less fourth-order aberrations than wfg-LASIK.

    The study included 43 eyes of 23 patients that underwent FLEx and 34 eyes of 19 patients that underwent wfg-LASIK to correct myopia.

    At three months postop, there was no significant difference in uncorrected or corrected distance visual acuity between the groups.

    However, for a 6-mm pupil, the changes in fourth-order aberrations after FLEx were significantly less than those after wfg-LASIK (P < 0.001). However, there were no significant differences in in third-order aberrations or total HOAs. Similar results were obtained for a 4-mm pupil.

    The authors conclude that FLEx may induce significantly fewer fourth-order aberrations because it causes less oblation in the corneal shape.

    They say that further studies with a far greater number of subjects are required to confirm the study’s findings.