Here’s some information that may help guide you in the choice between performing photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) and laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK).

Fifty-two eyes of 26 myopic patients (-2.00 to -5.5-D) were studied; each patient received PRK on one eye and LASIK on the other by random sequence. All LASIK eyes had a fast, painless recovery. At 1 year, 24 patients (92.3%) had mean spherical equivalent refraction of -0.08 plus or minus 0.38 D in the PRK eyes and -0.14 plus or minus 0.31D in the LASIK eyes. Uncorrected visual acuity was 20/20 or better in 15 PRK eyes (62.5%) and 19 LASIK eyes (79.2%). One PRK eye developed dense subepithelial corneal haze.

While the two procedures were found to be similar for efficacy, predictability, stability and safety, 19 patients preferred LASIK for its swift and painless recovery period.