Casebeer System for refractive keratotomy: patient satisfaction.

Purpose: To evaluate patient satisfaction 3 years after radical keratotomy (RK) using the Casebeer nomograms.

Setting: The Werblin Center, Princeton, West Virginia.

Methods: This study assessed the satisfaction of 96 patients who had bilateral distance correction by RK using the Casebeer System. The cases were part of the first 241 consecutive refractive keratotomy procedures (N = 128 patients) performed by one surgeon. Ninety-nine percent of the 96 patients in this study completed a questionnaire on satisfaction and visual symptoms 3 years postoperatively. A separate control population of 105 consecutive patients about to have RK surgery were asked to complete a questionnaire about their preoperative symptoms.

Results: Ninety-eight percent of patients were very to moderately satisfied 3 years after the procedure, 99% said they would have surgery again if given the chance, and 96% said they would recommend it to others. However, 69% stated they had mild to very severe symptoms 3 years postoperatively compared with 28% in the control group.

Conclusion: Despite an extremely high degree of patient satisfaction, about 99%, the 1% dissatisfaction rate seen in this study could have be very significant in this young, potentially litigious patient population.