Flap and stromal bed thickness in laser in situ keratomileusis enhancement.

PURPOSE: To evaluate whether flap thickness changes after the primary laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) procedure and to assess the accuracy of intraoperative pachymetry and ablation depth measurements in predicting stromal bed thickness before enhancement in eyes that have had primary myopic LASIK.

SETTING: Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, Florida, USA.

METHODS: This retrospective noncomparative interventional case series comprised 57 eyes of 42 patients who had LASIK enhancement between June 2001 and September 2002. Exclusion criteria included previous ocular surgery or complications during the first LASIK procedure. Only patients who had had LASIK and enhancement by the same surgeon at our institution and had intraoperative pachymetry readings for both procedures were included. The original flap was relifted in all enhancement procedures. Corneal thickness was routinely measured intraoperatively by ultrasound pachymetry. The age, eye, refraction, date of primary LASIK, central corneal thickness (CCT) and central stromal bed thickness at primary LASIK, depth of ablation, flap thickness (subtraction pachymetry), date of enhancement, CCT and central stromal bed thickness at enhancement, and flap thickness at enhancement were recorded.

RESULTS: Thirty-one eyes of 26 patients were myopic and 26 eyes of 16 patients were hyperopic before primary LASIK. The mean time between LASIK and enhancement was 218 days +/- 115 (SD) (193 +/- 88 days in myopic eyes and 248 +/- 136 days in hyperopic eyes [P = .068]). The flap tended to be thicker at enhancement than in the primary LASIK procedure by 9.3 +/- 25.7 microm in myopic eyes (P = .054) and 10.5 +/- 16.6 microm in hyperopic eyes (P = .004). A strong correlation was found between flap thickness in the first and second procedures in myopic and hyperopic eyes (r = 0.6). In myopic eyes, the mean difference between the estimated stromal bed thickness after the first procedure (central bed thickness- ablation depth) and the stromal bed thickness measured directly at enhancement was not statistically significant (3 +/- 29 microm; P = .54, paired t test). A strong correlation was found between the 2 measurements (r = 0.8, P<.001). Another strong correlation was found in myopic eyes between the estimated corneal thickness after the primary LASIK and the corneal thickness measured at enhancement (r = 0.81, P<.001). No correlation was found between the difference in flap thickness and the time to enhancement (r = 0.09 in myopic eyes and r = 0.01 in hyperopic eyes).

CONCLUSIONS: Flap thickness tended to be thicker at enhancement than at primary LASIK. Intraoperative pachymetry and ablation depth measurements proved to be precise tools to predict stromal bed thickness before enhancement in eyes that had had primary myopic LASIK. This information may help in planning LASIK enhancements.