title: Comparison of visual acuity of the patients on the first day after sub-Bowman keratomileusis or laser in situ keratomileusis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare recovery of the visual acuity in patients one day after sub-Bowman keratomileusis (SBK) or laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK).
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from 5923 eyes in 2968 patients that received LASIK (2755 eyes) or SBK (3168 eyes) were retrospectively analyzed. The eyes were divided into 4 groups according to preoperative spherical equivalent: between -12.00 to -9.00 D, extremely high myopia (n=396, including 192 and 204 in SBK and LASIK groups, respectively); -9.00 to -6.00 D, high myopia (n=1822, including 991 and 831 in SBK and LASIK groups, respectively), -6.00 to -3.00 D, moderate myopia (n=3071, including 1658 and 1413 in SBK and LASIK groups, respectively), and -3.00 to 0.00 D, low myopia (n=634, including 327 and 307 in SBK and LASIK groups, respectively). Uncorrected logMAR visual acuity values of patients were assessed under standard natural light. Analysis of variance was used for comparisons among different groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Uncorrected visual acuity values were 0.0115±0.1051 and 0.0466±0.1477 at day 1 after operation for patients receiving SBK and LASIK, respectively (P<0.01); visual acuity values of 0.1854±0.1842, 0.0615±0.1326, -0.0033±0.0978, and -0.0164±0.0972 were obtained for patients in the extremely high, high, moderate, and low myopia groups, respectively (P<0.01). In addition, significant differences in visual acuity at day 1 after operation were found between patients receiving SBK and LASIK in each myopia subgroup.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Compared with LASIK, SBK is safer and more effective, with faster recovery. Therefore, SBK is more likely to be accepted by patients than LASIK for better uncorrected visual acuity the day following operation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Xijing Hospital, the Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Out-patient Department, the Second Artillery Engineering University, Xi'an 710025, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Xijing Hospital, the Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Ze-Hong
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Xijing Hospital, the Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Xijing Hospital, the Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Yu-Feng
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Xijing Hospital, the Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Yu-Sheng
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: laser in situ keratomileusis; myopia; recovery; sub-Bowman keratomileusis; visual acuity