Patient satisfaction after femtosecond-assisted intracorneal ring segment implantation in the treatment of keratoconus

Abstract

Purpose The aim of this article is to evaluate patient satisfaction after femtosecond-assisted intracorneal ring segment (ICRS) implantation in the treatment of keratoconus.Patients and methods The study was carried out in two private eye centers and Department of Ophthalmology at Alexandria University. This study is a retrospective type. The study included 30 keratoconus patients with moderate to severe keratoconus and clear central cornea. All patients underwent KeraRings ICRS implantation. All patients answered a specially designed questionnaire to evaluate their visual function and satisfaction within a period of 6 months to 1 year postoperatively. The correlations between questionnaire scores and the clinical parameters were studied.Results The clarity of vision in general was good for 50% of the cases, acceptable for 26.7%, and bad for 16.7%. Regarding night vision, 40% of the patients complained of bad night vision; while for 46.7% of the patients it was acceptable. Additionally, the analysis revealed that regarding ‘reading’ 73.4% of patients were satisfied. Sixty percent of the patients were satisfied with their far vision, postoperatively. Ninety-three percent and 90% of the patients complained of glare and haloes, respectively; 12 patients complained of fluctuation of vision. Significant correlations were those of SEQ (spherical equivalent of manifest refraction) and Kmax at the sixth month with general satisfaction with P value less than 0.001 and 0.013, respectively. Conclusively 70% of the patients were satisfied after ICRS implantation.Conclusion Most patients (70%) are generally satisfied after ICRS implantation for the treatment of keratoconus. However, night vision disturbance, glare and haloes are the main complaints for a large number of them (about 90%).