Impact of a Novel Surgical Instrument on Topography-Guided LASIK Outcomes

Abstract Purpose: To compare the impact of Khatib laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) globe stabilizer on standard refractive outcomes and induced higher-order aberrations (HOAs) in Topo-guided LASIK surgery. Design: A single-centre retrospective comparative interventional study was conducted. Methods: A total of 105 patients accounting for 210 eyes were categorized into: (1) Control: 100 eyes from 50 patients, and (2) Study: 110 eyes from 105 patients. Both groups underwent Contour LASIK with a similar standard procedure. The study group was different in only the use of Khatib LASIK globe stabilizer intra-operatively. The primary outcome is 3 months post-operative visual outcome assessed using spherical equivalent (SEQ), residual cylinder, and uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA). Results: The 3-month post-op UDVA was significantly better for the study subjects (–0.04 ± 0.08) in comparison with control subjects (–0.02 ± 0.07) ( P = 0.03). Within the study group, 56% of eyes reported 20/16 or better post-operative UDVA with only 33% in the control group. Additionally, 92% and 83% of eyes in the study and control group respectively were within ±0.5 D SEQ. Apart from spherical aberration, all other induced HOAs had significantly lower incidence among study patients compared to control patients. The control group found a significant correlation between both, UDVA and total induced HOAs with preoperative SEQ ( P < 0.001). Conclusion: The Khatib globe stabilizer during topography-guided LASIK ablation significantly improved the visual outcomes and reduced induced HOAs of surgery. Further large-scale clinical trials are required to confirm these advantages of the instrument.