Circular and interrupted suture technique for correction of hyperopia following radial keratotomy.

BACKGROUND

Hyperopia is a possible complication following radial keratotomy. In this article, we describe a circular and interrupted corneal compression suture technique for the correction of hyperopia induced by radial keratotomy.

METHODS

A retrospective study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of this procedure in nine consecutive patients.

RESULTS

The procedure achieved an average of -1.70 diopters change in spherical equivalent refraction. This accounted for an overall correction of 68% of the hyperopia caused by radial keratotomy after a minimum 3-month follow up. Seven of nine eyes (78%) were within 1.00 D of emmetropia after surgery. Uncorrected visual acuity of 20/40 or better was present in only two eyes (22%) preoperatively, and nine eyes (100%), after the corneal suturing procedure. The mean improvement of uncorrected visual acuity was 4.0 Snellen lines (P = .0004). All patients were pleased with their visual outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

We found that this technique is an easy, safe, and reasonably successful treatment for radial keratotomy overcorrection.