Ortho-K Can Reduce AL as Early as Three Months

Positive relative accommodation, negative relative accommodation and amplitude accommodation were not significantly affected by ortho-K over a three-month follow-up period, but the latter was affected over longer follow-up times. Photo: Dan Fuller, OD. Click image to enlarge. As recent studies continue to highlight orthokeratology (ortho-K) as a promising therapeutic option of slowing myopia progression, an increase in its global adoption is expected. This rise should enhance awareness of this intervention's effects and its interactions with other treatments. A recent systematic review and meta-analysis published in Eye & Contact Lens provided a comprehensive evaluation of the influence of ortho-K on accommodation and binocular function in myopic patients. This meta-analysis demonstrated a significant reduction in AL as early as three months of use, with this improvement sustained at the 12-month follow-up.“This reduction may alleviate hyperopic defocus during near-vision activities, which could help explain the control of myopic progression,” the study authors suggested in their paper. “These findings align with the primary theories of myopia control.”A total of 14 studies that comprised 1,404 patients met the inclusion criteria. Single-vision spectacles were the control group in 12 articles, soft single-vision contact lenses in one and no intervention in one.The ortho-K group showed a significant reduction in AL compared with control groups at three-month follow-up (mean deviation; MD: -0.38D). At 12 months, ortho-K significantly increased accommodation amplitude compared with controls (MD: 0.64D), which was not observed at three months (MD: 0.26D). Positive relative accommodation did not differ significantly at three months (MD: -0.53D).This study is the first meta-analysis to evaluate accommodation outcomes in ortho-K patients, providing a synthesis of various accommodation measures and offering new insights into the effects of ortho-K on accommodation.“These findings offer novel evidence regarding the impact of ortho-K, particularly regarding AL, which showed significant improvement after three and 12 months of use,” the researchers concluded. “This improvement was observed with moderate bias, primarily due to measurement bias, and low heterogeneity, which strengthens the reliability of evidence.”Click here for the journal source. Souza Filho CEME, Zinher MT, Bravo-Gonzalez A, et al. How orthokeratology affects accommodative response and binocular vision: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eye Contact Lens. March 11, 2026. [Epub ahead of print].  This article was developed by the editorial staff in conjunction with experts in the field. In the process, AI may have been among the editorial tools used to meet the goals of human editors, who approved all content.