[Problems and challenges in the development of corneal refractive surgery]

Corneal refractive surgery, as one of the common visual correction methods, has been increasingly accepted in China. There are a large number of people in China who undergo the corneal refractive surgery due to the high incidence of myopia in the country. It is essential that the safest and most effective surgery should be used to correct refractive errors in the cases involved with relatively normal eyes and corneas. In recent years, corneal refractive surgery has been rapidly developing with new technologies and techniques emerging all the time, such as SMILE (small incision lenticule extraction) surgery, which has been extensively applied in China since five years ago when it was approved by FDA. However, little known are these new technologies and techniques, and the clinical and basic researches need further investigations by various approaches including histopathology and molecular biology, combined with mathematics, computer science, physics, chemistry and corneal biomechanics. To achieve minimal tissue damage and optimal clinical outcomes on visual quality by corneal refractive surgery requires the multidisciplinary partnerships of medical practitioners and researchers. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2018, 54: 3-6).