Authors' objectives: What is the clinical effectiveness of refractive laser surgery for people with vision conditions? What are the evidence-based guidelines regarding the use of refractive laser surgery for people with vision conditions?

Authors' results and conclusions: 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.

Project Status: Completed

URL for project: https://www.cadth.ca/refractive-laser-surgery-vision-conditions

Year Published: 2023

URL for published report: https://www.cadth.ca/refractive-laser-surgery-vision-conditions

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Rapid Review

Country: Canada

Organisation Name: Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health

Contact Address: 600-865 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, ON K1S 5S8 Canada. Tel: +1 613 226 2553; Fax: +1 613 226 5392;

Contact Name: requests@cadth.ca

Contact Email: requests@cadth.ca

Copyright: <p>Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH)</p>