Posters

Corneal pocket irrigation with ReLEx® SMILE: pro et contra

Poster Details

First Author: A.Kachanov RUSSIA

Co Author(s):    J. Masian   S. Bauer   B. Zimin              

Abstract Details

Purpose:

to examine the effects of corneal pocket irrigation on the uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) and sphere-equivalelnt (SE) in the early stages after ReLEx® SMILE surgery.

Setting:

1 – S. Fyodorov Eye Microsurgery Federal State Institution, St. Petersburg Branch, 2 – North-Western State Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov

Methods:

in our study there were 3 groups (in each of 15 patients / 30 eyes) subjected to SMILE surgery in order to correct high myopia and myopic astigmatism: group I - SMILE without irrigation; group II - SMILE with moderate irrigation (up to 0.2 ml of cold BSS); group III - SMILE with severe irrigation (intensive washing of the entire area of the corneal pocket with cold BSS - more than 0.2 ml). Follow-up period was up to 3 months.

Results:

there was a statistically significant difference between group III and groups I and II in the first day post-op – 0.85±0.22 (group I), 0.88±0.20 (group II), 0.62±0,24 (group III) (p<0.02). But after 3 months there was no statistically significant difference in UCVA between these groups – 0.94±0.24, 0.96±0.16, 0.92±0.22 respectively (p>0.05). There is also no statistically significant difference in spherical equivalent between groups in 3 months after SMILE - –0.16±0.78 D, –0.26±0.52 D, and –0.24±0.81 D (p>0.05).

Conclusions:

corneal pocket irrigation with SMILE technology is not a mandatory step in this operation, but with moderate washing allows the surgeons to wash debris from the corneal interface, and contributes to smoothing the folds of the corneal pocket. But a statistically significant difference in UCVA and SE between groups with or without irrigation is absent already 3 months after the surgery.

Financial Disclosure:

None