Laser Vision Correction: An Overview

Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK)

The procedure that originally made wide use of the excimer laser was photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK), first performed in 1987. Instead of using a microkeratome to remove the corneal disc, PRK uses the laser to accurately sculpt the cornea one microscopic layer at a time. PRK has seen vast improvements since those early days.

PRK sculpts the cornea by first removing the epithelium, the outer protective layer of the cornea. The laser works its way down into the stroma, or structural part of the cornea, where the real reshaping takes place. The epithelium then grows back over the next forty-eight to seventy-two hours. PRK presents some inconveniences. First, PRK can leave your eye sore for twenty-four to forty-eight hours after surgery while the eye heals. Second, the corneal surface, left exposed, results in blurred vision for almost a week.

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