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PRK offers advantages over LASIK, speaker says
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NEW YORK — Photorefractive keratectomy can offer results comparable to LASIK surgery without some of the risks, according to a speaker here.
In both the short and long term, photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) outcomes are similar to LASIK while eliminating flap concerns and reducing the likelihood of ectasia, Christopher E. Starr, MD, FACS, said at OSN New York 2013. PRK also now results in less pain than traditionally has been associated with the procedure and is an easier, cheaper and quicker surgery to perform than LASIK.
Christopher E. Starr
Starr analyzed 10 consecutive patients for pain, complications and mean uncorrected visual acuity in both eyes over a follow-up of at least 6 months.
Immeditaly after PRK, mean visual acuity was 20/23. At 1-day post-op, mean VA was 20/20, followed by 20/28.5 at 4 days, when most patients were already back at work, and 20/16 at 1 month. At the end of 6 months, 100% of patients were 20/15 in each eye individually, Starr said.
On the first night after PRK, mean patient-reported pain was 1.3 on a scale of 1 to 5. On the day after surgery, 60% of patients had scores of 1 or less and 40% had no pain. By day 3, no patients reported any pain.
In the past 6 years, Starr said he had no complications related to delayed epithelial healing, infection or infiltration, haze, refractory dry eye, lasting night-vision disturbance, steroid-induced complications or ectasia. He will be performing an enhancement shortly, he said.
PRK is good for those doctors that do not have high volume refractive surgery procedures because it is an easy procedure to learn and is cheaper to adopt, Starr said.
Disclosure: Starr has no relevant financial disclosures.