PRK with Olympic Gold Medal Winner Ashleigh McIvor

PRK is a form of outpatient corneal surgery in which a surgeon removes the front surface of the cornea (the epithelium). Epithelium can be removed with the laser itself, and can be scraped with surgical instruments, or it can be removed with a brush that looks like a small circular sander. Or it can be wiped off after alcohol has been applied to the epithelium to loosen it up.

Any of these methods work and the outcomes are very similar. Dr. Kirzner has found the alcohol method to be the best method of epithelial removal.

After the epithelium is removed the corneal bed is then reshaped with the laser in the same way as in LASIK. After the procedure the patient will wear a soft contact lens (bandage lens) until the epithelial layer has regenerated itself (usually within five to six days). Healing responses vary from patient to patient. This technique is usually used for people whose cornea may be too thin to allow for the creation of the corneal flap required for LASIK. The procedure is used to correct nearsightedness (myopia) and farsightedness (hyperopia) and astigmatism.