LASIK Laser Vision Correction in the Military: “Top Gun” Naval Aviators Routinely Have Wavefront LASIK and Wavefront PRK With Very High Success Rates and Satisfaction Rates. “Top Gun” fighter pilots in the United States Navy face extremely challenging visual tasks. They must be able to perform in combat and land on aircraft carriers in dim light. They must respond quickly and accurately in all visual environments.

Glasses and contacts increasingly are becoming less desirable options for Naval high performance pilots. Recent technological advancements have led to more sophisticated and specialized weapons systems and headgear that often are not compatible with the use of glasses during combat. Glasses can fog up and are unacceptable for swimming and diving. Additionally, glasses are incompatible with laser eye protection that pilots require, as well as with chemical and biological masks. Glasses can be uncomfortable with prolonged wear, move during strong G forces produced with acceleration and aircraft maneuvers, have reduced clarity in unfavorable environmental conditions, and would be removed by captors if a pilot became a prisoner of war.

Contact lenses present their own set of unique problems for Navy pilots. Soft contact lenses can absorb noxious fumes or gases and the re-release them back into the eye. They can dry out in the low humidity of the aircraft cabin. Rigid gas permeable (RGP) contact lenses can dislodge with high aircraft G forces and acceleration and gas bubbles can form under the rigid contacts din low atmospheric pressures. Solutions and replacement contact lenses also are an issue as that they can be hard to obtain in the remote locations pilots sometimes are deployed to.

The U.S. Navy has long been interested in LASIK and PRK laser eye surgery as a potentially better alternative than glasses or contact lenses for their fighter pilots. Before wavefront LASIK and wavefront PRK laser eye surgery were developed — in an era in which there was only conventional laser vision correction — the Navy felt that the surgery was not up to the rigorous demands of the visual needs of combat pilots who would be asked to fly and even land on aircraft carriers in dim light. While other members of the U.S. Navy were allowed to have conventional LASIK or conventional PRK, the Top Gun pilots were not allowed to have any laser eye surgery.

Once LASIK had evolved to the point where customized wavefront LASIK and wavefront PRK were developed and had established themselves, the Navy doctors, after careful reveiw and study, felt that these wavefront procedures now were excellent options for Top Gun pilots. In fact, Navy doctors began using the term “weapons grade vision” to describe the outstanding vision that was obtained with wavefront LASIK and wavefront PRK. U.S. Navy aviators today can have either wavefront LASIK or wavefront PRK and be Top Gun pilots.

This month, the U.S. Navy published a very good study of the outcomes of customized wavefront LASIK in U.S. Naval aviators. The results were outstanding — and reassuring to anyone considering wavefront LASIK or wavefront PRK. In this study, three groups of patients undergoing customized wavefront LASIK were studied: those with nearsightedness (myopia), those with mixed astigmatism, and those with farsightedness (hyperopia). Overall, the study enrolled, treated, and analyzed 548 eyes with myopia, 60 eyes with mixed astigmatism, and 25 eyes with hyperopia.

In the groups with myopia and mixed astigmatism, vision without glasses or contacts (“uncorrected distance visual acuity”) was 20/20 or better in 98.3% of eyes. In the hyperopic group, 20/20 or better was seen in 95.7% of eyes.Overall, 95.9% of patients believed that LASIK had aided their effectiveness as pilots and 99.6% said they would recommend the same treatment to others.

These results from the U.S. Navy study of its pilots undergoing customized wavefront LASIK add to our growing literature showing the degree to which wavefront LASIK is an excellent alternative to glasses or contact lens use — one that is associated with very high degrees of patients satisfaction. While LASIK is, of course, not without risks, these results seen in the U.S. Navy study are quite reassuring for all patients thinking of this procedure.

See Also

Evaluation of LASIK in U.S. Naval Aviators
U.S. Navy Study of Customized Wavefront LASIK in “Top Gun” Pilots Shows Outstanding Pilot Satisfaction.

LASIK with Intralaser Now Being Studied in Aviators
EyeWorld discussion of LASIK in U.S. Navy pilots.

The Clinical and Quality of Vision Results of Wavefront Guided (WFG)/Femto LASIK in U.S. Naval Aviators
American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) presentation poster of results of U.S. Navy study of customized wavefront guided LASIK in Naval pilots.

LASIK Risks and Complications
All About Vision discussion of the potential risks and complications of LASIK laser vision correction eye surgery.

From Legally Blind to Fighter Pilots
Discussion of how laser eye surgery helps midshipman achieve their military career goals in aviation.

Perfect Vision is Helping and Hurting Navy
The availability of laser vision correction surgery in the Navy changes the numbers of qualified applicants for elite pilot programs.