Comparative study on dry eye after femtosecond laser in situ keratomileusis and sub-Bowman's keratomileusis

AIM:To evaluate the changes of postoperative dry eye and tear-film after femtosecond laser in situ keratomileusis(femto LASIK)or sub-Bowman's keratomileusis(SBK). METHODS:Two hundred and twenty patients(440 eyes)accepted the refractive surgery from January to September 2013 in our hospital were analyzed retrospectively. Two hundred and fifty-two eyes in 126 patients were performed with femto-LASIK, and 188 eyes in 94 cases were performed with SBK. The changes on corneal fluorescence staining(FL), tear film break-up time(BUT), and Schirmer Ⅰ test(SⅠt)were obtained preoperatively, 1, 3 and 6mo postoperatively. RESULTS:There were significant difference between femo-LASIK and SBK on FL at 1mo postoperatively(PP>0.05). At 1wk and 1mo postoperatively, the differences on BUT between the two groups were statistically significant(PP>0.05). At 1wk,1 and 3mo postoperatively, the differences on SⅠt between the two groups were statistically significant(PP>0.05).CONCLUSION:Both patients treated by femto-LASIK or SBK have dry eye after surgeries in early stage.However, tear-film function in femto-LASIK group recovers faster than that in SBK group.