Femtosecond lenticule extraction for correction of myopia: a 6 month follow-up study

AIMS To report our initial experience with femtosecond lenticule extraction (FLEX) compared with femtosecond laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK). SETTINGS AND DESIGN This was a prospective pilot study carried out at the Refractive Surgery Department of the Beyoglu Eye Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. MATERIALS AND METHODS Surgery was performed on both eyes of 14 consecutive patients with myopia or myopic astigmatism. Patients underwent FLEX in one eye and femtosecond LASIK (FemtoLASIK) in the other eye. The primary outcome was based on uncorrected distance visual acuity, corrected distance visual acuity, and spherical equivalent of the subjective manifest refraction, at 1 week, 1 month, and 6 months postsurgery. Statistical analyses were performed using PAWS Statistics 18. Unpaired Student's t-test was used to compare the groups. RESULTS During the last follow-up visit (6 months postsurgery), the mean spherical was -0.37 ± 0.60 diopters (D) (range -1.00 to 0.50) (P < 0.001) and -0.25 ± 0.41 D (range -0.88 to 0.12 D) (P < 0.001) in the FLEX and FemtoLASIK eyes, respectively. The spherical was within ± 0.50 D of the intended correction in ten (72%) of the FLEX eyes and 12 (86%) of the FemtoLASIK eyes (P > 0.05). No complications occurred during surgery or the postoperative period. CONCLUSION FLEX is a safe, effective, and predictable procedure for surgical correction of myopia. Refractive results were stabilized within the first postoperative week, and visual acuities were stabilized within the first month, comparable to FemtoLASIK.