Comparative Study of Visual Outcome between Femtosecond Lasik with Excimer Laser and All Femtosecond Relex Small Incision Lenticule Extraction (Smile)

Purpose: To compare visual outcome between Femtosecond LASIK and ReLEx SMILE in treatment of Myopia. Method: A single center prospectiverandomized clinical study in which patientswith Myopia +/-astigmatism were allocated to FemtoLASIK or SMILE group with 50 patients in each group. Main outcome measures were Visual acuity, safety and efficacy index; Contrast sensitivity; Aberrations; post-operative glare, patient satisfaction ( quality of vision) and dry eye. Follow up visits were at day 1, day 15 and 3 months. Results: Post operative visual acuity in SMILE group was significantly better (p = 0.033) than FemtoLASIK group . The safety and efficacy index were similar in both groups. Contrast sensitivity showed more significant reduction (p<0.001) in FemtoLASIK group .There were more induced aberrations post FemtoLASIK (p=0.004) than post SMILE.Corneal topography showed more corneal flattening (p=0.044) post FemtoLASIK as compared to SMILE. There was lower incidence of dry eyes in SMILE group compared to FemtoLASIK group with p value<0.001.12% SMILE patients and 64% FemtoLASIK patients had mild glare post operatively and majority patients had good quality of vision in both groups. Conclusion: In conclusion the visual outcome and patient comfort was better in SMILE group compared to FemtoLASIK group.