Reoperations After Radial and Astigmatic Keratotomy

Between January 1, 1983 and January 1, 1986, the author performed 820 radial keratotomy operations of 4, 6, 8, or 12 incisions for simple myopia or compound myopic astigmatism. The myopia ranged between -100 diopters and -7.00 diopters. The range of astigmatism was between 0.00 diopters and 4.50 diopters cylinder. The overall success rate in all classes combined for 20/40 or better uncorrected acuity was 84.1%. The reoperation rate was 4.5% in this series. The most common types of reoperation were redeepening, additional radials, decreasing optical zone, additional T-incisions, dehiscence repair, and pursestring suture steepening of secondary hyperopia. Emphasis in this analysis is placed on the evaluation and correction of inaccurate results from the primary surgery.