Some Problems After Photorefractive Keratectomy

Abstract

We analyzed the data from 1821 patients (2920 eyes) who received photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) to investigate the postoperative complications which cause a significant decrease in visual acuity. A corneal haze of grade 2 or more developed in 9 patients (11 eyes, 0.38%) and corticosteroid-induced ocular hypertension occurred in 3 patients (4 eyes, 0.14%). Three patients (4 eyes) who had corneal haze of grade 2 or more underwent repeated photorefractive keratectomy and one patient (2 eyes) with steroid-induced ocular hypertension underwent trabeculectomies. A decrease of best spectacle corrected visual acuity of two lines or more was detected in 7 patients (8 eyes, 0.27%), caused by irregular astigmatism, steroid-induced cataract, incidental choroidal neovascular membrane, and an unknown origin. Good predictability and stabilization after photorefractive keratectomy was maintained at the 2 year follow-up. However, some subjective symptoms were reported by many patients and some complications occurred in a minority of eyes despite the excellent visual outcome in a large majority.