Background: SMILE does not require the creation of a flap. This reduces the risks associated with flap creation such as dry eye and traumatic flap dislocation.
Objective: To assess corneal curvature changes of anterior and posterior surfaces in terms of corneal power, the radius of curvature, and asphericity following SMILE procedure for myopic patients.
Patients and Methods: Thiswas A prospective comparative study which included 20 eyes of 10 myopic patients. Spherical equivalent (SE) refraction was from -3 to -8 diopters (D) and refractive astigmatism was ˂ -3 D. All patients were treated for myopia and myopic astigmatism using SMILE procedure in AL NOUR EYE HOSPITAL using (500 kHs, Visumax, Carl Zeiss, Meditec, Jena, Germany) starting from January 2018 till June 2019.
Results: A statistically significant decrease in mean keratometric power in the 5 mm zones of the anterior corneal surface was detected after 1month compared with its pre- SMILE values. The mean posterior keratometry power showed insignificant change. The mean anterior corneal curvature (mean radii of curvature) showed a statistically significant increase after 1-month compared to preoperative values. The mean postoperative posterior curvature showed an insignificant change. Asphericity (Q-value) of the anterior corneal surface changed significantly 1-month postoperatively. Q-value of the posterior corneal surface showed insignificant change. A statistically significant decrease in mean spherical equivalent (SE) was detected after 1month compared with its preoperative value.
Conclusion: SMILE is safe; give effective high successful refractive results, good stability and the incidence of intraoperative or postoperative complications remains minimal after one month follow up. SMILE causes significant increase in anterior corneal curvature power, Q-value and significant decrease in anterior keratometry, spherical equivalent and, central corneal thickness.