Comparison of higher order aberrations after wavefront-guided LASIK and PRK: One year follow-up results

To evaluate the changes and predictability of higher order aberrations (HOAs) after personalized laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) and personalized photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) for simple myopia and compound myopic astigmatism.
In this prospective cross‑sectional study, 100 eyes were included. A total of 50 eyes underwent personalized LASIK and 50 eyes underwent personalized PRK. Preoperative and postoperative wavefront data were compared between the two groups. The influential factors and predictability of HOAs were also assessed.
Total HOA increased in the amount of 0.01 ± 0.14 μm for the 5 mm pupil (P = 0.55) and 0.08 ± 0.22 μm for the 6 mm pupil (P = 0.02) after PRK; however after LASIK the corresponding values for the 5 and 6 mm pupil sizes were 0.05 ± 0.12 and 0.15 ± 0.18 μm, respectively (P For the 6mm pupil size, the total HOA increased following both personalized PRK and LASIK with no significant difference between the two groups. Change of the total HOA RMS was influenced by the preoperative values. The known influencing factors could predict nearly 50% of the changes in total HOA.