Femtosecond Laser Versus Manual Clear Corneal Incision In Implantable Collamer Lens Surgery

To compare the short-term and long-term surgical outcomes between femtosecond laser-assisted Implantable Collamer Lens (ICL) implantation and traditional manual ICL implantation, with a focus on visual acuity, astigmatism, and other related metrics.

This retrospective study was conducted at the Refractive Surgery Center at the Department of Ophthalmology, Beijing New Vision Eye Hospital (Beijing, China). Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of Beijing New Vision Eye Hospital, and the research adhered to the relevant ethical principles.

A retrospective analysis was conducted on patients who underwent ICL implantation at Beijing New Vision Eye Hospital in 2023. Patients (aged 18–45) were matched for gender and refractive error, with forty-two eyes in each group. Preoperative and postoperative parameters were measured at intervals of 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months post-surgery. Statistical analyses were conducted to compare outcomes between the two groups.

Contrary to our expectations, short-term results (within 1 month) for the femtosecond laser-assisted group showed significantly lower visual acuity and higher astigmatism levels compared to the traditional group. Over time, both techniques yielded comparable outcomes in visual acuity and other parameters by 3 and 6 months postoperatively. The predictive accuracy for refraction outcomes remained superior in the traditional ICL group throughout the study period.

The femtosecond laser-assisted ICL implantation did not display any significant short-term and long-term advantages over traditional manual ICL implantation methods. Given the increased costs and lack of clear benefits, femtosecond laser-assisted incisions are not recommended for ICL implantation at this time.