Objective To evaluate the clinical results of transepithelial photorefractive keratectomy （TPRK） in the treatment of myopia. Methods Thirty-eight patients （72 eyes） who were diagnosed with myopia and astigmatism underwent TPRK and 34 patients （64 eyes） who underwent LASEK were enrolled in the study. Ablations were performed with the Schwind Amaris system. The time frame for epithelial healing and ocular pain score were recorded on 1， 3 and 10 d. The patients were examined at 10 d and at 1， 3 and 6 months postoperatively to measure uncorrected distance visual acuity （UDVA）， spherical equivalent （SE）， corneal haze and corneal confocal microscopy （CCM）. The data were analyzed with a Mann-Whitney U test， chi-square test， independent t test and RMANOVA. Results The mean time for epithelial healing was significantly shorter after TPRK than after LASEK （2.3±1.2 versus 3.3±1.9 days） （t=8.659， P＜0.01）. At 1 d and 3 d， the difference in the mean pain scores was not significant （Z=0.683， -0.380， P＞0.05）. At 3 d， more eyes had achieved 1.0 or better in the TPRK group than in the LASEK group （35% versus 13%）（χ2=9.105， P＜0.01）. At 10 d， the mean SE was smaller in the TPRK group than in the LASEK group （F=5.691， P<0.05）， but the difference in SE was not significant at 1， 3 and 6 months. All LASEK- and TPRK-treated eyes equaled or bettered UCVA and BCVA. There was no clinically severe haze but any haze tended to dissipate after 6 months. There was no significant difference in the grade of haze between the two surgeries. A high number of reflective pieces and keratocyte activation could be observed under CCM and were obviously more significant in LASEK- than in TPRK-treated eyes at 1 month. Alleviation was gradual. Conclusion TPRK for myopia is as safe and effective as LASEK. It appears to induce a shorter time for wound healing and UCVA improvement in the early postoperative period.