This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Intervention). The objectives are as follows:

Primary objectives

The aim of this review is to evaluate the effects of MMC on the cornea and answer the question: is there sufficient evidence for using intraoperative topical MMC on the cornea in surface ablation (PRK or LASEK or epi‐LASIK) as prophylaxis for haze formation and to reduce refractive regression?

This review will address the use of MMC in the prophylaxis of myopic patients who underwent PRK or LASEK or epi‐LASIK.

Secondary objectives

If sufficient data are available, a secondary objective of this review is to determine the refractive predictability and complications with different concentrations and times of exposure to MMC as well as to find out if there are differences in proportion of patients with haze among different laser platforms used for PRK, LASEK, and epi‐LASIK. Refractive predictability is defined as the difference between the attempted and achieved refractive change, in other words, the difference between the mean postoperative spherical equivalent (SE) and the target SE using the manifest refraction (Joo 2005).