Title: An objective assessment of vision performance at different reading distances after smooth incision lenticular keratomileusis (SILK) for myopia – Scientific Reports (2025)
Authors: Rohit Shetty, Pooja Khamar, Raghav Narasimhan, Ritika Mullick, Anushree Bhatkal, Anisha Ramesh & Abhijit Sinha Roy

📌 Study Overview

This study evaluated how well patients see at distance, intermediate (60 cm), and near (40 cm) after Smooth Incision Lenticular Keratomileusis (SILK) refractive surgery for myopia. A total of 69 eyes were examined and compared with results from normal emmetropic eyes and eyes treated with LASIK.

👁️ Key Results

• Visual Acuity (VA):
  At distance and near, SILK eyes had similar VA to both emmetropic and LASIK eyes.
  At intermediate distances, SILK eyes performed significantly better than LASIK eyes, and their VA was comparable to emmetropic eyes.

• Refractive Errors:
  SILK eyes showed higher postoperative cylinder (astigmatism) at all distances compared with LASIK eyes (statistically significant).
  The proportion of eyes with mild residual spherical error after SILK was closer to that of emmetropic eyes than LASIK eyes.

• Higher Order Aberrations:
  Overall induction of higher order aberrations after SILK was minimal, and aberration levels were mostly comparable across the groups.

• Depth of Field:
  The data suggest that SILK eyes may have a larger depth of field, likely contributing to better intermediate vision without compromising distance or near visual outcomes.

📌 Conclusions

• SILK surgery provides excellent visual performance, with comparable or superior intermediate vision compared to LASIK and outcomes closely resembling natural (emmetropic) eyes.

• Nomogram adjustments for spherical correction were effective, and zero cylinder adjustment appeared to support better intermediate results.

• The procedure induced minimal higher order aberrations, confirming its predictability and quality of vision outcomes.