Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK)

Upon the FDA approval of the Excimer laser for Laser Eye Surgery, the initial treatments to correct common vision problems such as nearsightedness were performed using a procedure called PRK, which is known medically as Photorefractive Keratectomy.

For carefully selected patients, Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK) is a procedure that offers eye care patients the opportunity to be less dependent on glasses and contact lenses.

In the Photorefractive Keratectomy procedure, the laser eye surgeon begins by placing a few eye drops in your eyes to numb the surface of your eye. This is to make you are comfortable during your treatment. In fact, you will not experience any discomfort during your procedure. After entering the Excimer laser suite and reclining on the laser bed, the eye surgeon will carefully place a fine instrument between your eyelids to help you remember to keep them open during the PRK procedure.

The laser eye surgeon will first need to gently remove the outermost layer of the cornea, which is called the epithelium. This can be done by the surgeon lightly rubbing the surface of your eye with a dull instrument or as many laser eye surgeons prefer, may be done directly with the laser. By removing this thin layer, the surgeon can then apply the actual laser beam to the surface of the cornea where it will reshape the curvature in order to create the necessary change to correct your vision and eyeglass or contact lens prescription. The application of the laser is very precise as a computer in the laser controls its delivery using information that the surgeon and staff have programmed based on their measurements and calculations gathered from your consultation.

You should not be alarmed by the need to remove the thin epithelial layer in the PRK procedure as the surgeon will place a comfortable “bandage contact lens” in your eye after your treatment. This is really just a very thin comfortable soft contact lens that helps your eye heal.

For some PRK patients, during the first day or so after the procedure, as the surface of your begins to begins to heal, they may experience a mild to moderate amount of discomfort which they tell us feels like “grittiness or sandiness”, almost like they have something under their contact lens. The surgeon may prescribe some additional eye drops to make your comfortable, control or reduce any inflammation that you may have as you heal, and/or to prevent any infection during the healing process. It is important that you carefully follow all of the instructions you are given regarding eye drops, medications and the schedule of follow-up visits.

Eye surgeons today use the advanced technology of “scanning-tracking laser systems”. This laser technology is distinctly different from the Excimer laser systems used to perform PRK in the late 1990’s in that it actually measures the exact position of your eye thousands of times during the treatment and adjusts the precise location of the application of the laser. In addition, rather than applying the laser in a “beam”, it delivers the laser to the surface of the eye in very small-less than 1.0mm-spots in pattern selected by the computer in order to obtain the smoothest treatment and best vision correction. By using this “scanning-tracking-spot technology”, PRK patients today, receive a smoother PRK surface treatment and experience a quicker and more comfortable visual recovery than others might have in the past. The laser eye surgeon may prescribe some additional eye drops to make your comfortable, control or reduce any inflammation that you may have as you heal, and/or to prevent any infection during the healing process. It is important that you carefully follow all of the instructions you are given regarding eye drops, medications and the schedule of follow-up visits.

While today Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK) may only be recommended for a limited group of patients, it has an important place for those patients who have corneas that are too thin to have LASIK Eye Surgery, for those who have corneal scarring or irregularities making them unsuitable for LASIK surgery and for those who are involved in active or reserve military duty or any type of activity that might result in direct contact with the surface of the eye.

During your laser eye surgery consultation at Connecticut Eye Center, our eye surgeons will thoroughly consider your individual lifestyle needs, eye health and prescription and help you select the best treatment option for your situation.