Type of Surgery
Information
Last updated: 02/17/2009
PRK patients may experience glare, vision fluctuation, development of irregular astigmatism, vision distortion (even with corrective lenses), glaucoma, loss of best visual acuity, and, though extremely rare, total vision loss.
A more common side...
effect is long-term haze. Some patients who have aggressive healing processes can form corneal scars that can cause haze. With proper screening for this condition and with the use of eye drops, this risk can be lessened.
Complications associated with LASIK, such as photophobia, haloes, and dry eye, are not as common with PRK. However, The patient may be under-corrected or overcorrected, and enhancements might be needed to attain the best visual acuity.
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Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) and Laser-Assisted Sub-Epithelial Keratectomy (or Laser Epithelial Keratomileusis) (LASEK) are laser eye surgery procedures intended to correct a person's vision, reducing dependency on glasses or contact lenses. The first LASEK procedure was performed at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in 1996 by ophthalmologist, refractive surgeon, Dimitri Azar. The procedure was later popularized by Camellin, who coined the term LASEK for laser epithelial keratomileusis. LASEK and PRK permanently change the shape of the anterior central cornea using an excimer laser to ablate (remove by vapourization) a small amount of tissue from the corneal stroma at the front of the eye, just under the corneal epithelium. The outer layer of the cornea is removed prior to the ablation. A computer system tracks the patient's eye position 60 to 4,000 times per second, depending on the brand of laser used, redirecting laser pulses for precise placement. Most modern lasers will automatically center on the patient's visual axis and will pause if the eye moves out of range and then resume ablating at that point after the patient's eye is re-centered.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photorefractive_keratectomy
Other Information
Approximately 56% of all patients achieve results of 20/20 or better and over 90% achieve 20/40 or better (which is good enough to drive without corrective lenses in most regions).1 Those with moderate to high myopia (greater than 7 diopters) have a lesser chance of achieving that result. As technique and technology improve, the results continue to improve.
From: Eye Surgery Education Council
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