Refractive Laser Surgery for Vision Conditions

Key Message

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.