Abstract: Human corneal epithelium has strong ability to remodel itself. When the corneal surface is irregular, the corneal epithelium will reshape the cornea in the form of thickening to a certain extent. The corneal surface changes after corneal laser surgery, which will stimulate the rearrangement of corneal epithelial cells, showing the change of corneal epithelial thickness. The epithelial remodeling is related to surgical procedure, refractive error correction, laser ablation depth and area. Transepithelial photorefractive keratectomy (Trans-PRK) showed obvious epithelial thickening one month after operation, and the thickening area was mainly in the peripheral area; femtosecond laser-assisted in situkeratomileusis (FS-LASIK) and femtosecond laser small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) showed obvious thickening one week after operation. The difference is that FS-LASIK thickening area is mainly the para-central area, while SMILE thickening area is the peripheral area. The influence of corneal epithelial thickness on postoperative visual acuity, postoperative diopter prediction and corneal refractive stability should not be ignored. (Int Rev Ophthalmol, 2023, 47: 53-57)

Key words: corneal epithelial thickness, corneal epithelial remodeling, corneal laser surgery