LASIK And PRK – Advantages And Disadvantages

Let’s take a look at their advantages and disadvantages. Note the following for you might consider a LASIK or PRK eye surgery in the future.

Shared Advantages of LASIK And PRK

Both procedures employ excimer laser and with excellent precision and accuracy, resulting in highly effective vision improvement.
No significant drop in structural strength of the eye, which is very significant for patients at high risk for direct eye trauma.
A far greater range of refractive correction than previously available.
More stable vision.

Advantages of LASIK over PRK

Experts found out that LASIK offers more advantages than PRK. Here are some of its advantages of LASIK:

Less postoperative treatment and follow up needed
Little or no postoperative pain. Any initial soreness after LASIK eye surgery is usually gone by the following morning
Rapid recovery of visual acuity
Preservation of normal corneal anatomy. It is interesting to know that the LASIK procedure preserves the epithelium, which is a thin protective layer that covers the cornea. Also, the LASIK procedure preserves the Bowman’s Layer, a structural component just beneath the surface of the corneas that is removed during the PRK procedure.
Capability of simultaneous bilateral treatment. Both eyes are actually treated at the same time.
Reduced risk of light sensitivity, which may occur for a week or two after PRK.
Rapid healing. The protective corneal flap created during LASIK helps reduce the need for the prolonged medication regimen required for surface PRK.

Shared Disadvantages Of PRK and LASIK

Difficulties with eye coordination. This is typical in case when both eyes need correction but only one is operated on initially. With this, there may be problems with coordination between the corrected and uncorrected eyes.
Blurring of night vision, causing halos or star bursting around bright lights. This is also common in LASIK than in surface PRK.
There is a risk of infection in both procedures. Infection is the most serious complication of most eye surgery, and this is extremely rare in LASIK.
Reduction of best corrected visual acuity. The patient may have much better uncorrected vision, but not as sharp as previous corrected vision.
Risk of over or under correction, necessitating continued use of contact lenses or eyeglasses, and possibly more surgery.
Laser procedures are most costly than more traditional methods. This is for the fact that both LASIK and PRK involve expensive technology and an extensive educational process for the surgeon, laser technicians, as well as surgical assistants. Nevertheless, most patients feel that the increased accuracy, lower re-treatment rate, and reduced time spent in office visits are well worth the difference in price.

LASIK Complications Or Disadvantages

LASIK complications or disadvantages include problems with the instrument that makes the flap, the microkeratome, which result in incomplete flaps, irregular flaps, flaps within thin spots or holes in it, or a flap that comes totally off. These then need the procedure to be aborted, and the re-performed in about three months.

Occasionally, if scarring develops, the LASIK cannot be repeated and the patient must wear a contact lens for best vision. Also, rarely a flap may need suturing back in place, and even more rarely, a flap may be lost.

This will make LASIK essentially a surface treated procedure with a more variable result and the possibility of significant corneal scarring. Also, if the flap is lost, a corneal transplant operation may be necessary.

Furthermore, there are some instances that adequate ring suction cannot be maintained, so LASIK cannot be performed.

Other uncommon flap problems may involve unwanted material like cotton fibers in the interface, infection, folds in the flap or epithelial ingrowth beneath it, which needs repositioning and cleaning of the flap.

Today, many patients prefer the LASIK procedure over PRK primarily because of the rapid vision recovery as well as minimal postoperative care.

Many doctors also agree that patients with high amounts of nearsightedness should have LASIK, but for patients with lower to moderate amounts of myopia, either PRK or LSIK may be appropriate. But whatever the case maybe, LASIK is increasingly accepted as today’s standard vision correction surgery procedure.