Comparison of corneal higher-order aberrations after femtosecond lasik and smile for patients with large scotopic pupil size

PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to compare changes in corneal higher-order aberrations (HOAs) after femtosecond-as-sisted laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (FS-LASIK) or small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) in patients with large sco-topic pupil sizes over 7 mm.
METHODS: Myopic patients who underwent SMILE or FS-LASIK surgeries were retrospectively reviewed. There were 59 eyes of 36 patients with large scotopic pupil sizes over 7 mm who were enrolled into the study. The patients were divided into two groups: Group A was the FS-LASIK group and Group B included the SMILE patients. Demographic features, pre-operative and post-operative best-corrected and uncorrected visual acuities, manifest spherical equivalent (SE) values, and corneal HOAs were recorded and compared.
RESULTS: There were 26 eyes of 17 patients included in Group A, while 33 eyes of 19 patients were included in Group B. The mean follow-up time was 11.7±8.68 months in Group A and 14.7±8.88 months in Group B (p=0.19). The pre-operative mean SE values were −3.66±0.23 D in Group A and −5.28±0.89 D in Group B (p=0.001). Post-operative best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA; Snellen) scores were 0.9±0.16 in Group A and 0.89±0.17 in Group B (p=0.89). Root mean square values of spherical aberration, trefoil, secondary astigmatism, and total HOA were compared between two groups in terms of change between post-operative and pre-operative period (p=0.16, 0.95, 0.79, and 0.77, respectively).
CONCLUSION: The outcomes of patients with large pupil diameters who underwent FS-LASIK or SMILE due to myopia and myopic astigmatism were similar in terms of corneal HOAs.