Comparison of Visual Outcomes and Higher Order Corneal Aberrations between SMILE and Femtosecond LASIK for Myopia Astigmatism Correction in VIETNAM SMILE vs LASIK for myopia correction in Vietnam

Abstract

Introduction: To compare the visual outcomes and HOAs of small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) and Femtosecond LASIK (FS-LASIK) for myopia correction in Southern Vietnamese.

Methods: A total of 40 patients underwent bilateral refractive procedures (40 eyes for SMILE and 40 eyes for FS-LASIK) at a tertiary international hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Data were collected at three consecutive visits: pre-operative, 1 month and 6      months post-operatively. The data collected included visual outcomes (visual acuity and refraction) and higher order corneal aberrations (vertical coma, horizontal coma, spherical aberration, and total higher order corneal aberration).

Results: Data normality was tested with the Shapiro–Wilk test. The difference in visual outcomes and HOAs were compared between the two procedures with the Mann–Whitney U test. Intragroup differences at the three consecutive visits were compared using the Friedman test.  A p<0.05 was considered significant. All participants achieved a corrected distance visual acuity of 20/20. The percentage of eyes achieving uncorrected visual acuity ≥ 20/20 was higher in the SMILE (95%) than in the FS-LASIK (85%, p>0.05) group at 6-months. Spherical aberration at 6 months postoperatively      was significantly higher in the FS-LASIK (0.44±0.14 µm) than in the SMILE (0.34±0.14 µm) group, p=<0.01. Only two eyes (5%) in the SMILE and one eye (2.5%) in the FS-LASIK group lost one line in CDVA (p>0.05).

Conclusions: SMILE and FS-LASIK are safe and effective surgical options for myopia correction. SMILE achieves slightly greater accuracy in terms of achieving the intended refractive outcomes compared to FS-LASIK. Additionally, SMILE induces less spherical aberration compared to FS-LASIK.