Quality of vision after wavefront-guided laser in situ keratomileusis or photorefractive keratectomy: Contralateral eye evaluation.

PURPOSE: To compare quality of vision between laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) and photorefractive keratectomy (PRK).

SETTING: Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA.

DESIGN: Prospective randomized case series.

METHODS: Patients had refractive surgery, with 1 eye treated with LASIK and the other with PRK. Eyes were randomized for dominance. The patients completed a questionnaire assessing quality of vision in each eye at the initial visit and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively.

RESULTS: The study comprised 34 patients (68 eyes). There were no initial differences in quality of vision. The PRK eyes had worse clarity during the day (P = .001) and at night (P = .001), worse overall vision (P = .024), more vision fluctuation (P = .006), and more double vision (P = .022) at 1 month. Eyes with higher preoperative higher-order aberrations (HOAs) having PRK had worse clarity during the day and at night (P = .006 and P = .012, respectively) and more vision fluctuation (P = .041); PRK eyes with lower preoperative HOAs had worse daytime clarity (P = .036) at 1 month. After 1 month, there were no differences.

CONCLUSIONS: The quality of vision was better in LASIK eyes after 1 month. At subsequent visits, there was no significant difference in quality of vision.