Clinical Outcome of Small Incision Lenticule Extraction including Visual Quality Analysis

Purpose: To present the clinical outcomes of small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) including visual quality analysis in Korean patients with myopia Methods: The medical records of 228 eyes of 116 patients who underwent SMILE in HanGil Eye Hospital LASIK Center from May 2014 to Feb 2015 and were followed-up for at least 3 months was analyzed retrospectively. The patients were followed up at 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months after the operation. Refractive value, visual acuity, intraocular pressure, and visual quality were measured at each visit Results: Preoperatively, uncorrected distant visual acuity was 0.01 +/- 0.02 in log MAR, spherical equivalent was -5.03 +/- 1.72 diopters, intraocular pressure was 15.85 +/- 2.85 mm Hg, and the objective scattering index (OSI) value was 0.68 +/- 0.49. The postoperative uncorrected distant visual acuity was 0.13 +/- 0.10, 0.05 +/- 0.08, 0.04 +/- 0.09, and 0.02 +/- 0.04 and OSI was 2.16 +/- 1.89, 1.25 +/- 0.64, 1.14 +/- 0.69, and 0.81 +/- 0.36 at 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months after the operation, respectively. The postoperative intraocular pressure was 12.55 +/- 3.74 mm Hg, 13.03 +/- 4.35 mm Hg, 11.65 +/- 2.49 mm Hg at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months after the operation. The efficacy of refractive surgery 3 months after the operation was 0.97 +/- 0.11, the safety was 0.99 +/- 0.10, and predictability was 99.56% and 100.00% at the range of +/- 0.5 diopters and +/- 1.0 diopter, respectively. Conclusions: The SMILE operation showed comparable clinical outcomes with conventional refractive surgery in terms of efficacy, safety, and predictability. Intraocular pressure and visual quality normalized gradually throughout the 3-month postoperative period.