The Treatment of Pain Following Photorefractive Keratectomy

Abstract

The most effective management of the pain that follows excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) appears to be the use of topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents. A bandage contact lens for 2 days after photorefractive keratectomy is additive to pain relief. The helpfulness of patching was not confirmed. Surprisingly, drops of local anesthetic were not an efficacious means of managing the pain. This was possibly because they were not used frequently enough. The findings showed trends, but were not statistically significant.