What is photorefractive keratectomy PRK? What is the Cost?
The photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) is a refractive surgery technique that involves the use of an excimer laser which is an instrument that produces a laser light in the wavelength of 193 nanometers. With the laser, the eye surgeon treats the cornea in such a way as to correct the visual defects like astigmatism, hypermetropia, or myopia.
The PRK is mainly employed to treat myopia which is a refractive defect that can be treated through this technique with considerable effectiveness. In fact, this technique is capable of correcting myopia up to about -10 diopters, but beyond these values the technique begins to lose its precision.
The correction of astigmatism generally gets fewer results than those obtained in the case of myopia. However, with the latest generation laser, you get good results even on important astigmatisms.
In case of hypermetropia, good results are gained when there are minor defects, but if hypermetropia is high, the PRK technique is not recommended. Therefore, the PRK technique is suggested in the presence of visual defects of slight or medium magnitude and when there are refractive defects of high degrees that cannot be treated with other techniques such as LASIK that is contraindicated in case of particularly thin cornea.
The main advantages of photorefractive keratectomy are the following:
- It is a relatively simple operation.
- It is not painful.
- It is free of significant risks that may occur during and after the intervention.
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