Background. The changes in corneal biomechanical properties after LASIK remain an unknown but important topic for surgical\ndesign and prognostic evaluation. This study aims to observe the postoperative corneal biomechanical properties one month after\nLASIK with amount of corneal cutting (ACC) greater than 50% of the central corneal thickness (CCT). Methods. FS-LASIK was\nperformed in 10 left rabbit eyes with ACC being 60% (L60) and 65% (L65) of the CCT, while the right eyes (R) were the control.\nAfter 4 weeks, rabbits were executed and corneal strip samples were prepared for uniaxial tensile tests. Results. At the same strain,\nthe stresses of L65 and L60 were larger than those of R. The elastic moduli of L60 and L65 were larger than those of R when the\nstress was 0.02 MPa, while they began to be less than those of R when stress exceeds the low-stress region. After 10 s relaxation, the\nstress of specimens L65, L60, and R increased in turn. Conclusion. The elastic moduli of the cornea after FS-LASIK with ACC\ngreater than 50% of the CCT do not become less under normal rabbit IOP. The limit stress grows with the rise of ACC when\nrelaxation becomes stable.
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