Orthokeratology vs. orthokeratology combined with atropine for the control of myopia in children: systematic review.

The purpose of this investigation is to determine the efficacy of orthokeratology (OK) compared to orthokeratology combined with atropine (AOK) for the control of myopia in children. A systematic review that included systematic reviews with meta-analyses, as well as randomized and controlled clinical trials, was carried out in the PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane Library, ProQuest, Taylor & Francis, Science Direct databases, as well as a manual search. Of the Q1-Q4 journals of the Scimago Journal & Country Rank, published in the last 5 years in English and Spanish. Eighteen studies that met the eligibility criteria were considered. The articles selected included 6,866 patients for analysis, where orthokeratology combined with 0.01% atropine was found to be more effective due to its ability to reduce the progression of myopia and axial elongation. In our investigation, it was determined that there could be an additive effect in the combination of 0.01% atropine with orthokeratology in a period of 1-2 years of treatment in patients with mild myopia; however, more multiethnic studies should be carried out, in where a correct evaluation of the progression of myopia, genetic and environmental factors that may influence the results is considered.