Reasons for not performing surface ablation refractive surgery in Saudi population

PURPOSE: The primary goal of this study is to analyze the reasons why refractive surgery was not performed for candidates who requested the procedure among single eye-clinic visitors in Saudi Arabia. Secondarily, we aimed to determine the corneal parameters that are characteristic of Saudi population and to figure out the relationship between the magnitude of central corneal thickness and the degree of myopia. METHODS: A retrospective data was collected for all patients who presented to a single-surgeon eye clinic at King Abdul Aziz Medical City-National Guard, Saudi Arabia, seeking refractive surgery between January 2010 and December 2015. RESULTS: Unstable refraction (21.78%) followed by amblyopia with unrealistic expectations (18.75%) and high myopia (15.62%) were the most common reasons not to proceed with refractive surgery in the included sample. The mean central corneal thickness for all patients included in this study was (538 μm ± 32.6). We found no significant relationship between central corneal thickness and the degree of myopia OD [rs(178) = −0.017, P = 0.823] and OS [rs(182) = 0.016, P = 0.831] for right and left eyes, respectively. CONCLUSION: Unstable refraction followed by amblyopia with unrealistic expectations and high myopia were the leading causes not to perform refractive surgery in this study. No significant relationship can be figured out between central corneal thickness and the degree of myopia.