EVALUATION OF THE ACCURACY OF SUB BOWMAN’S KERATOMILEUSIS (SBK) MICRODURING LASIK SURGERY KERATOME IN FLAP CREATION DURING LASIK SURGERY

Abstract

Refractive errors and consequent spectacles wear have always been cumbersome for many persons. Development of refractive surgeries in the last decades was established in response to patient’s needs. Corneal LASER refractive procedures are always the first choice, either for patients or surgeons. Myopia is a common refractive error all over the world. Many methods can be used for correction of myopia. LASIK is the most common surgery used to correct myopia; in which a flap is created, and the cornea is ablated with the excimer laser, irrigated with BSS, and the flap is reapplied again on the cornea. A critical step in LASIK surgery is flap creation, that can be done either mechanically using mechanical microkeratome or with the femtosecond laser. Flap thickness and morphology became the main concern in LASIK surgery. The aim of our study was studying the accuracy of LASIK flap thickness created by the mechanical microkeratome SBK using anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) and recording any associated complications. This study included 40 eyes of 20 patients, 8 males and 12 females and age ranging from 22 to 40 years. Postoperatively, the mean achieved central corneal flap thickness (at vertex) in both eyes was 88.67 µm ±7.19, (ranging from 80 to 110 µm),