Abstract: Objective： To investigate and compare the response of laser-assisted subepithelial keratectomy (LASEK) and laser in situ keratomileusis（LASIK） for moderate and high rule-shift astigmatism. Methods： One hundred and thirty-seven patients (206 eyes) with corneal myopic astigmatism in with rule-shift were randomly divided into LASEK and LASIK groups. All were followed up for 6 to 12months after laser ablation. At 6months after operation, the changes of corneal astigmatism and astigmatic axis were studied. Results： Six months after operation, the postoperative corneal astigmatism was （0.215±0.130）D in LASEK group and （0.572±0.195）D in LASIK group, which was reduced by （3.306±0.817）D and（2.996±0.497）D, respectively. There was a significant difference between them, while the corneal astigmastic axis was not significantly changed. Conclusion： Compared to LASIK, LASEK is a better method for improvement of moderate and high rule-shift astigmatism.

Key words: Keratectomy, subepithelial, laser-assisted, Keratomileusis, laser in situ, Astigmatism