Corneal response to femtosecond laser photodisruption in the rabbit

In this report we evaluated the effect of femtosecond laser energy on the development of corneal haze and keratocyte activation in rabbits following intra-stromal photodisruption to create LASIK flaps using a modified commercial femtosecond surgical laser. Three groups of flap parameters were studied: 1.5μJ/pulse with 10μm spot separation and complete side cut (Group 1); 3.5μJ/pulse with 14μm spot separation and complete side cut (Group 2); 3.5μJ/pulse with 14μm spot separation and partial (50μm) side cut (Group 3). All flaps were left attached without lifting to avoid epithelial contamination. Rabbits were then evaluated pre- and post-operatively by quantitative in vivo and ex vivo confocal microscopy. The achieved flap thickness 1week after surgery averaged 88.9±12.8, 90.8±6.9 and 86.5±6.8μm for Groups 1–3 respectively (p=NS). Interface thickness was significantly greater (p