J Korean Ophthalmol Soc.  2001 Apr;42(4):618-623.

Factors Affecting the Thickness of Suction Ring in LASIK

• Ko MS
• Bae SR
• Joo CK

Abstract

PURPOSE: Suction ring is needed to fix the cornea during LASIK procedure. But if we choose the suction ring inappropriately, we meet the various problems such as conjunctival edema, conjunctival hemorrhage, ocular pain, and prolongation of operation time. To investigates various factors affecting the thickness of suction ring(1-4) in LASIK procedure.
METHODS
We performed LASIK procedure by using SCMD microkeratome and VISX STAR laser on 398 eyes from Dec. 1996 to Feb. 1999. We compared difference on pachymetry, keratometry, corneal diameter, spherical equivalent according to the thickness of suction ring and analyzed these factors with One-Way ANOVA test.
RESULTS
The results are that keratometry affected size of suction ring significantly. The flap size and hinge size are affected by size of suction ring significantly, but others did not show significant results.
CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that we need to choose the size of suction ring according to keratometry during LASIK procedure for decreasing various complications.

Keyword

LASIK; Microkeratome; Suction ring

MeSH Terms

Cornea
Edema
Hemorrhage
Keratomileusis, Laser In Situ*
Suction*