The effect of redeepening incisions on radial keratotomy outcome.

BACKGROUND

Patients scheduled to undergo radial keratotomy in both eyes received redeepening incisions in one eye and single pass incisions in the other. Eye and order of surgery were assigned randomly and surgical parameters were otherwise identical in the two eyes.

METHODS

This study was designed to measured the improvements in myopia obtained by radial keratotomy, with and without redeepening incisions.

RESULTS

There was a greater decrease in spherical equivalent manifest refraction in the redeepening group than in the control group at 1 week (0.41 D) and 1 month (0.36 D) after surgery, as measured by keratometry. The difference in change between groups was 0.41 D at one week, 0.36 D at 1 month, and 0.26 D at 3 months. Change in spherical equivalent was significantly more in the redeepened group at 3 months after surgery (0.37 D); however, the improvement constituted only 8.8 percent of the decrease in myopia achieved by radial keratotomy without redeepening (3.87 D).

CONCLUSIONS

Although redeepening yields an incremental effect in the correction of myopia, the technical difficulties of redeepening and the increased chance of perforation of the cornea with redeepening outweigh the benefits of the procedure.