To compare the effectiveness between wearing a conventional hydrogel vifilcon A bandage contact lens (BCL) and a silicone hydrogel lotrafilcon A BCL after laser-assisted subepithelial keratomileusis (LASEK).

LASEK was performed on 38 eyes of 19 patients. Each patient was fitted with a silicone hydrogel lotrafilcon A lens in one eye and a conventional hydrogel vifilcon A lens in the other eye. The patient was masked on the type of lens in each eye. General preference between the two types of lenses, subjective symptoms (pain, photophobia, tearing, dryness, and foreign body sensation; graded as 0 to 4), and the area of non-viable corneal epithelium were assessed in each eye at one and four days after surgery.

Patients reported preferring the lotrafilcon A lens to vifilcon A at 1 (79%) and 4 (74%) days after LASEK. The mean symptom scores of tearing and foreign body sensation at 1 day after surgery (P=0.012 and P=0.034, respectively) and foreign body sensation at 4 days after surgery (P=0.027) were significantly lower in the lotrafilcon A group. The mean area of the non-viable corneal epithelium was smaller in the lotrafilcon A lens group at 1 day and 4 days after surgery, although not statistically significant.

Patients better tolerated the silicone hydrogel lotrafilcon A BCL compared with the conventional hydrogel vifilcon A BCL. The mean symptom scores were significantly lower in the lotrafilcon A group at both 1 and 4 days after LASEK.