Refractive Laser Surgery for Vision Conditions

Key Messages

• None of the identified studies were of sufficient quality to formulate conclusions on the clinical effectiveness of refractive laser surgeries compared to conventional vision correction for people with vision conditions.
  • The identified evidence for the clinical effectiveness of photorefractive keratotomy (PRK) was limited to 1 low-quality study that did not detect a visual acuity difference between participants who had PRK and participants who wore contact lenses.
  • Low-quality evidence from 1 study found participants who had undergone PRK had greater vision-related quality of life (QoL) than participants who had not had PRK. Another low-quality study found that participants who wore contact lenses had greater vision-related QoL than participants who had undergone a laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) procedure.
  • Low-quality evidence suggested that contact lenses resulted in fewer incidences of vision loss events than LASIK.
• No evidence-based guidelines on best practices for refractive laser surgeries met the criteria for this review.