The impact of different corneal refractive surgeries on binocular dynamic visual acuity.

PURPOSE

To investigate the influence of different corneal refractive surgeries on dynamic visual acuity (DVA), and explore its potential influence factors.

METHODS

This was a prospective non-randomized study. Adult myopic patients undergoing bilateral laser-assisted sub-epithelial keratomileusis (LASEK), femtosecond laser-assisted keratomileusis (FS-LASIK), or small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) with Plano refraction target were enrolled. Uncorrected and corrected distance visual acuity (UDVA/CDVA), manifest refraction and binocular optotype-moving DVA of 40 and 80 degrees per second (dps) were evaluated pre-operatively and post-operatively up to 3 months.

RESULTS

The study included 264 eyes of 132 subjects, with an average age of 27.0 ± 6.7 years, and females accounted for 59% of the participants. Significant improvement was observed at the 3-month visit for 40 dps (SMILE, = 0.001; LASEK, = 0.006; FS-LASIK, = 0.010) and 80 dps (SMILE, = 0.011; LASEK, = 0.025; FS-LASIK, = 0.012) DVA. Adjusting for pre-operative DVA, there was no significant difference in DVA among groups at 3 months post-operatively ( > 0.05 for multiple comparisons). Overall, multiple linear models demonstrated that post-operative DVA at 3 months was correlated with pre-operative DVA (40 dps, β = 0.349, = 0.001; 80 dps, β = 0.447, < 0.001), pre-operative spherical equivalent (40 dps, β = 0.311, = 0.003; 80 dps, β = 0.261, = 0.009) and post-operative UDVA (40 dps, β = -0.224, = 0.024; 80 dps, β = -0.188, = 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Dynamic visual acuity at 3 months post-operatively of the three corneal refractive surgeries was better than that before the surgery in adult myopic patients, and there was no significant difference among different surgical techniques. Post-operative DVA at 3 months was found correlated with pre-operative DVA, pre-operative SE, and post-operative UDVA. With further improvement, DVA could be a promising functional visual indicator for myopic patients undergoing refractive surgeries.