Content area
Full Text
ABSTRACT: Radial Keratotomy was performed in 409 eyes with myopia of - 6 to -12 diopters using eight incisions and deepening them from the optic zone to the limbus. The mean preoperative spherical equivalent refraction was - 7.83 D and the mean postoperative was - 1.02 D. Fifty-eight percent of the eyes were corrected io within 1 D of emmetropia and 38% achieved an uncorrected visual acuity of 20/40 or better. [Refractive & Corneal Surgery 1989; 5:150-154.]
Some authors support the concept that radial keratotomy should be performed only for myopia less than - 6.00 to - 8.00 diopters. Others have suggested that patients with higher amounts of myopia can benefit from this procedure.
From the initial 32, 16, 12, and 8 incisions, with or without peripheral redeepening in two or three zones, and controlling the incisions with the slitlamp, we can see that the depth is between 90% and 95% when we redeepen the incisions and between 80% and 85% when redeepening was not performed. We report our experience using eight incisions with redeepening all along the incisions to treat myopia of -6.00to -12.00 D.
Material and Methods
Four hundred nine radial keratotomies were performed on 409 consecutive eyes with higher amounts of myopia, ranging from - 6.00 to - 12.00 D. There were 364 patients, 152 male and 214 female, operated on between April 1985 and April 1988. Three surgeons (the authors) contributed cases to this series.
The mean age was 35.77 ± 10.93 years (range 22 to 64). The mean spherical equivalent refraction was -7.83 D and the mean preoperative spectacle corrected visual acuity was 0.70 D (range 0.2 to 1.00 D).
The eyes were stratified according to the amount of preoperative myopia: 269 (66%) of them were assigned to Group I (range - 6.00 to - 8.00 D) and 140 (34%) to Group II (range -8.1 to -12.00 D) (Table 1).
Surgical Technique
Every patient underwent the following clinical examinations: visual acuity with and without spectacle correction; manifest refraction; keratometry; Goldman tonometry, slit-lamp microscopy; or indirect binocular ophthalmoscopy.
Premedication included systemic lisine clonixinate (Dorixina*), diazepam 5 mg (Valium11), and topical proparacaine. No cycloplegics were used. Topical antibiotics were administered beginning the day prior to surgery. One week after surgery,...