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Background: This study was planned to compare Trans - epithelial Photorefractive Keratectomy (TPRK) and Alcohol Assisted Photorefractive Keratectomy (AAPRK) laser vision correction in hyperopia and compound hyperopic astigmatism. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on patients with hyperopia and hyperopic-astigmatism, whose eye laterality was randomly assigned to undergo TPRK versus AAPRK using SCHWIND AMARIS 1050RS (SCHWIND eye-tech-solutions, Germany). Follow up time was 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery. Results: 112 eyes of 56 patients with mean age of 32.6 years included, of which 51.8% were female and 48.2% were male. Both TPRK and AAPRK methods were able to correct hyperopia and astigmatism safely and efficiently (p<0.05 in all cases). Postoperative vision characteristics were similar in both methods (p=0.23 for sphere, p=0.52 for cylinder, p=0.064 for axis, and p=0.35 for BCVA) postoperatively. Corneal haze was observed in 44% of the patients with a direct strong correlation with hyperopia severity (r=0.607). Post-operative pain was observed in 60% of the patients with a direct weak correlation with hyperopia severity (r=0.27). Mild photophobia was seen in 42% of the patients with a direct weak correlation between photophobia and hyperopia severity (r=0.36). Epithelial healing time lasted an average of 3.48 days and there was a direct and moderate correlation with hyperopia severity (r=0.4). Safety index in TPRK and AAPRK was 0.54 and 0.45, respectively, with no significant difference (p=0.42); Efficacy index was 0.96 and 0.9 in TPRK and AAPRK, respectively and there was no significant difference between two groups (p=0.23). No complication was observed in all of the patients. Conclusion: TPRK and AAPRK laser vision correction are both safe and efficient in hyperopia and compound hyperopic astigmatism. There is no significant difference regarding epithelial healing time, post-operative pain and haze formation between two procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To compare the effectiveness, safety and stability of the results of transepithelial photorefractive keratectomy (tPRK) with conventional photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) for low to moderate myopia. Methods: In this prospective non-randomized case-control study, patients with low to moderate myopia were assigned to the tPRK group (cases) or the PRK group (controls). In the tPRK group, eyes were treated using the Amaris excimer laser (SCHWIND eye-tech-solutions GmbH and Co. KG, Germany). Outcome measures included postoperative pain using McGill Pain Questionnaire, epithelial healing time, uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA), best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), manifest refraction, and safety and efficacy indexes which were compared between the study groups. Results: Three hundred forty eyes of 170 patients were enrolled in this study. Each study group comprised of 170 eyes of 85 patients. There was a significant difference between the two groups regarding the postoperative pain scores in favor of the tPRK group (P = 0.04). The tPRK group had a shorter epithelial healing time than the conventional PRK group postoperatively (P = 0.01). Mean UCVA was significantly better in the case group than in the control group at the postoperative month 2 (P = 0.01). Regarding the safety and efficacy indexes, the tPRK group had better results than the conventional PRK group (P < 0.01 for both comparisons). Conclusion: Transepithelial PRK seems to be superior to conventional PRK for treatment of low to moderate myopia in terms of postoperative pain, epithelial healing time, visual recovery and safety and efficacy indexes.