[The application of vector analysis for evaluation of astigmatism correction in the corneal refractive surgery]

Since sixty percent of ametropes obtain astigmatism, which has influence on the visual quality, correcting the astigmatism is always the focus of concerns during visual correction procedures especially for the corneal refractive surgery. The postoperative spherical equivalent or residual cylindrical dioptors was used as quantitative index to evaluate the correction of astigmatism previously; however, such results neglect the effect of astigmatic axis shift on the treatment. Taking astigmatism as a vector parameter could describe the magnitude and direction of astigmatism accurately, thus it was increasingly applied in the evaluation of astigmatism correction. This paper reviews the present vector analysis methods, evaluation indexes and its application for the correction of astigmatism in the corneal refractive surgery.