A comparison of different depth ablations in the treatment of painful bullous keratopathy with phototherapeutic keratectomy

Abstract

AIM: To study the efficacy of phototherapeutic keratectomy (PTK) for pain relief for patients with painful bullous keratopathy and poor visual potential. METHODS: Patients with painful bullous keratopathy and poor visual potential were treated with superficial PTK (8-25 microm), intermediate (50-100 microm) or deep PTK (25% stromal thickness) using the Nidek EC5000 excimer laser after manual epithelial debridement. Follow up ranged from 1 to 24 months (mean 6.5 months). Outcome measures included symptomatic relief and need for further treatment. RESULTS: In the superficial PTK group five of eight (62%) patients improved symptomatically after treatment. The three (38%) who did not improve wen..