Satisfaction after photorefractive keratectomy.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate patient satisfaction one year after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) for myopia and myopia astigmatism using the Nidek EC-5000 excimer laser.


METHODS
This study assessed the level of satisfaction of 6280 patients who underwent PRK after a minimum follow-up of 1 year. All patients were asked to enter their level of satisfaction as excellent, good, worthwhile, or disappointed into a networked computer database. Their responses were subsequently analyzed according to baseline and postoperative refractive data.


RESULTS
Patients considered their results to be as follows: 82.3% good or excellent, 14.9% worthwhile, and 2.8% were disappointed with the outcome.


CONCLUSIONS
A high percentage of patients were satisfied with the outcome following PRK. However, a fair number (14%) of patients considered the treatment to be worthwhile but it did not meet their expectations. Extensive counseling and inculcating realistic expectations before treatment is essential in achieving better patient satisfaction.
Shah
S
S
Optimax Laser Eye Clinics, England.
Perera
S
S
Chatterjee
A
A
D001251:Astigmatism / Q000601:surgery*; D003315:Cornea / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D054018:Lasers, Excimer; D009216:Myopia / Q000601:surgery*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D018903:Photorefractive Keratectomy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome