Why carry out this study?

Nighttime symptoms, especially glare and halo, are common complications of small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE). This study evaluated refractive outcomes, disk halo size, contrast sensitivity, and nighttime symptoms in monocular SMILE patients.

Thirty-six patients who had undergone monocular SMILE more than 6 months previously were recruited, and visual performance was measured by the MonPack One (Metrovision, France); nighttime symptoms were assessed by patient-reported questionnaire on the basis of individual eyes.

What was learned from this study?

The efficacy index and safety index were 1.18 ± 0.17 and 1.28 ± 0.18 in SMILE-treated eyes, respectively.

Similar contrast sensitivity and high satisfaction scores were achieved in patients with myopic anisometropia after monocular SMILE surgery.

Nighttime symptoms (glare, halo, starburst) became mild or disappeared for most individuals over 14 months postoperatively.

Patients reported interocular visual differences indicating that night vision in SMILE-treated eyes was superior to that in unoperated eyes.

Monocular SMILE surgery contributed to the recovery of normal vision in specific myopic anisometropic patients, but the nomogram should be considered to avoid myopic shift occurring in unoperated eyes.