Comparison of Conventional Versus Trans-Epithelial Photorefractive Keratectomy in Hyperopia Treatment: A Contralateral Study

Background: this study was planned to compare trans - epithelial photorefractive keratectomy (tprk) and alcohol assisted photorefractive keratectomy (aaprk) laser vision correction in hyperopia and compound hyperopic astigmatism. methods: this quasi-experimental study was conducted on patients with hyperopia and hyperopic-astigmatism, whose eye laterality was randomly assigned to undergo tprk versus aaprk using schwind amaris 1050rs (schwind eye-tech-solutions, germany). follow up time was 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery. results: 112 eyes of 56 patients with mean age of 32.6 years included, of which 51.8% were female and 48.2% were male. both tprk and aaprk methods were able to correct hyperopia and astigmatism safely and efficiently (p<0.05 in all cases). postoperative vision characteristics were similar in both methods (p=0.23 for sphere, p=0.52 for cylinder, p=0.064 for axis, and p=0.35 for bcva) postoperatively. corneal haze was observed in 44% of the patients with a direct strong correlation with hyperopia severity (r=0.607). post-operative pain was observed in 60% of the patients with a direct weak correlation with hyperopia severity (r=0.27). mild photophobia was seen in 42% of the patients with a direct weak correlation between photophobia and hyperopia severity (r=0.36). epithelial healing time lasted an average of 3.48 days and there was a direct and moderate correlation with hyperopia severity (r=0.4). safety index in tprk and aaprk was 0.54 and 0.45, respectively, with no significant difference (p=0.42); efficacy index was 0.96 and 0.9 in tprk and aaprk, respectively and there was no significant difference between two groups (p=0.23). no complication was observed in all of the patients. conclusion: tprk and aaprk laser vision correction are both safe and efficient in hyperopia and compound hyperopic astigmatism. there is no significant difference regarding epithelial healing time, post-operative pain and haze formation between two procedures.