PRK Laser Eye Surgery Corrects Nearsightedness (Myopia) with High Predictability and Long Term Safety at 19 Years After Surgery

Results of an ongoing, long-term study of outcomes of PRK laser vision correction for nearsightedness shows good predictability and safety of outcomes at the 19 year mark after the original surgery.

A patient from Santa Barbara asked me last week how we know the long term outcomes of laser eye surgery. This is a question I often am asked and, of course, a very good one. In general, in conducting studies in medicine, it becomes difficult to conduct very long term studies as patients often do not come back for follow up year after year. We are extremely fortunate that there has been an exceptionally long-term, ongoing study of the results of PRK laser eye surgery and, at the 19 year mark, the results still show long term predictability and safety of outcomes.

This retrospective European study, conducted at the Odense University Hospital in Denmark, included 160 eyes from 160 patients that had undergone PRK between 1992 and 1998. (Of note, it was in 1995 that the FDA first approved laser vision correction surgery in the United States — in the form of PRK). The average age of patients at the time of their surgery was 26.1 years and follow up varied from 13 to 19 years, with an average follow up of 16.7 years.

In this Danish study, because an older PRK technique was used at that time, one would expect some degree of long term “slipping” of results compared to more modern technique. Nonetheless, despite the use of less sophisticated format of PRK than used today, the long term results were quite good and quite safe. In the study, vision without glasses was good enough to pass a California driver’s test (20/40 or better) in 97% of eyes at 3 months, 96% of eyes at 6 months, and in 79% of eyes over a decade and a half later at final follow up measurements. At final follow up measurements, 81% of patients said they still were satisfied with their results.

It is important to remember that these patients were some of the first in the world to undergo PRK and that the lasers at that time were nowhere near as sophisticated as the lasers we use today. Despite the relative primitiveness of these initial PRK surgeries done a decade and a half ago, the long term results are impressive. The main problem seemed to be a slight regression of effect over long periods of time so that patients regained a small amount of their nearsightedness back. Nonetheless, overall satisfaction remained quite high. Contemporary surgery uses more sophisticated laser patterns, wider diameter laser zones, and more advanced and complex edge architecture — all of which contribute toward better long term stability than was seen with these original PRK surgeries. Nonetheless, it is reassuring to see that even the earliest PRK surgeries are still doing so well so many years later.

On a personal note, this data reflects the very good long term outcomes I have seen in my own PRK patients from that original PRK era.

PRK Laser Eye Surgery Corrects Nearsightedness (Myopia) with High Predictability and Long Term Safety at 19 Years After Surgery

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