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U.S. Army soldiers prefer PRK, LASEK over LASIK

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BOSTON — U.S. Army soldiers at Fort Bragg most commonly receive PRK and LASEK, citing the procedures’ visual outcomes and longer leave time to receive surgery, according to a military surgeon speaking here.

Scott D. Barnes, LTC, MC, USA, discussed front-line soldiers’ needs for refractive surgery and the types of procedures most commonly performed in a presentation at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery Summer Refractive Congress. He focused on refractive laser procedures performed at the Fort Bragg U.S. Army base in North Carolina — the Army’s first laser surgery center and now one of eight Warfighter Refractive Eye Surgery Programs.

All soldiers at the base receive surgery free of charge and are allowed to choose whichever procedure best suits them, he said. Most of Fort Bragg’s soldiers — 60% — prefer receiving PRK, 24% prefer LASEK, and 16% prefer LASIK, according to Dr. Barnes. Many soldiers choose PRK because of its longer recovery period — 4 days compared to LASIK’s two-day recovery, he said.

Refractive surgery is popular at the base not only because it can improve soldiers’ daily lives, but because it can also be advantageous in both day and night combat situations, where eyeglasses can prove to be life threatening, Dr. Barnes noted.

“When a solider has been captured, and he’s lost his glasses and can’t see to escape without them, that’s a major issue,” Dr. Barnes said. “We have, essentially, an unlimited waiting list. We’ve got eight years worth of wait for one base alone.”