Materials and Methods: Patients who underwent LASEK due to myopia and myopic astigmatism were examined with a confocal microscope in the preoperative period, at 1, 3 and 6 months postoperatively. Forty nine eyes of 26 patients were included in the study. The mean age was 35.19±7.3 years (21-50 years). The mean spheric refraction was -5.29±2.4 (-1.50 to -12.0 D) and spherical mean value was -1.52±1.10 (-0.50 to -4.00 D).

Results: No haze was detected clinically in any patient. Confocal microscopically, it was observed that haze peaked in the 1st month, decreased rapidly between the 1st and 3rd months, and continued to decrease towards the 6th month. While there was a statistically significant increase (p<0.05) between the preoperative period and the 1st month in terms of haze amount, there was no statistically significant difference between the 3rd and 6th months (p>0.05). When the amount of ablation was compared with the haze occurring in the 1st, 3rd and 6th months, no statistically significant difference was found (p>0.05). Subepithelial nerve regeneration developed in 27.8% of 36 eyes at 1 month, and 93.2% of 44 eyes at 6 months.

Conclusion: LASEK, with its low haze and early subepithelial nerve regeneration rate even at high myopic values, seems to be a technique that can be safely applied in high myopic and dry eye conditions. Keywords : Laser Subepithelial Keratomileusis, Confocal Microscope, Keratocyte, Subepithelial Haze, Subepithelial Nerve