EYESTRAIN AND DRY EYE AFTER PHOTOREFRACTIVE KERATECTOMY
Published 2025 - 29th ESCRS Winter Meeting
Reference: PO172 | Type: Free Paper | DOI: 10.82333/5m9n-cc29
Authors: Nader Nassiri* 1 , Kourosh Sheibani 2 , Sara Kavousnezhad 3
1Ophthalmology,Imam Hossein Medical Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences ,Tehran,Iran, Islamic Republic Of, 2Basir Eye Health Research Center,Tehran,Iran, Islamic Republic Of, 3Vanak Eye Surgery Center,Tehran,Iran, Islamic Republic Of
Purpose
To evaluate the medium-term (3 and 6 months) postsurgical effects of photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) on patients’ subjective perception of dry eye and eyestrain.
Setting
Vanak Eye Surgery Center, Tehran, Iran
Methods
This prospective comparative pre-post study was performed from May 2020 to September 2021. The inclusion criteria were patients with mild to moderate myopia undergoing PRK. To evaluate the indirect subjective signs of eyestrain and its severity, we used a questionnaire including six questions regarding itching, foreign body sensation, excessive tearing, eye tiredness, blurring of vision, and photophobia. We administered this questionnaire to each patient pre-surgery as well as 1 and 6 months post-surgery. To evaluate post-surgical dry eye, we asked patients if their dry eye symptoms had increased or decreased compared to the pre-surgical period.
Results
A total of 40 patients were assessed in this study. The mean age of patients was 26 ± 8 years, with 16 patients (40%) being male and 24 patients (60%) female. There was no statistically significant difference in mean eyestrain scores one month (P = 0.371) and six months (P = 0.939) post-surgery compared to pre-surgery. There was a significant increase in dry eye symptoms at both 1 month (P = 0.010) and 6 months (P = 0.004) post-surgical follow-ups.
Conclusion
Our results indicate that PRK significantly increases dry eye symptoms compared to the pre-surgical period, up to six months post-operatively. There was no statistically significant increase in eyestrain symptoms among patients compared to the pre-surgical period.