Preoperative dry eye, ectasia risk factors can determine if PRK or LASIK is optimal

NEW YORK — Both PRK and LASIK are effective refractive surgery procedures, but patients with preoperative dry eye and those who are at high risk for ectasia may be better candidates for PRK, according to a speaker here. “LASIK and PRK are both excellent options for refractive surgery, and they provide excellent results. However, whatever criteria you use, the [residual stromal bed] or the [percent tissue altered], whatever that minimum number is, it’s important to not exceed that with a planned LASIK procedure, and if so, you should perform a surface procedure instead. Consider PRK rather than LASIK with people who are presenting preoperatively with mild to moderate dry eye. In either case, it’s important to identify and treat the dry eye preoperatively,” Jodi I. Luchs, MD, FACS, said at OSN New York 2016.