» PRK surgery

» PRK suergery in laser eye surgery

  PRK surgery (photorefractive keratectomy) is performed with an excimer laser, which uses a cool ultraviolet light beam to precisely remove ("ablate") very tiny bits of tissue from the surface of the cornea in order to reshape it. When you reshape the cornea in the right way, it works better to focus light into the eye and onto the retina, providing clearer vision than before.

  During the treatment the computer controlled laser beam will remove the unwanted tissue from the surface of the cornea without doing harm to other parts of the eye. The success of the PRK largely depends on the thoroughness of the preliminary examinations and the follow-up care. Both nearsighted and farsighted people can benefit from PRK. The success of correcting astigmatism is a limited. Since no incisions are made, no scars develop.

  PRK is an ambulatory procedure. The eyes are anesthetized with special drops. The surgery affects only a small surface of the eye (5-7mm) and the thickness of the removed tissue is only 30-100 micrometer (the thickness of 1-3 human hairs). The cornea's thickness can be reduced by 20% without weakening the eye; therefore - contrary to earlier eye treatment methods - the PRK surgery will not bring inconvenient changes to the patient's lifestyle.

  PRK surgeries can correct dioptres between +4,0 and -12,0. Correcting eyes with high dioptres may require repeated surgeries. The method of correcting dioptres smaller than one (halves, quarters) is quite new. This requires so-called "flying spot" lasers.