Infection Following Photorefractive Keratectomy

Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) is the most commonly performed refractive procedure in the US military and is regaining popularity in the civilian world as a safe alternative to LASIK. Pain after PRK is often significant, but can be mediated with the use of a bandage soft contact lens worn continuously until the epithelium heals. Postoperative eye infections are very rare after PRK; however, the consequences can be visually devastating. Prior works have shown that bandage lenses have a high rate of bacterial contamination despite the low rate of infection. Moxifloxacin is a popular choice for prophylactic antibiotic coverage for many ophthalmic surgeries. Prior studies have examined the normal ocular flora before and after laser refractive surgery. To our knowledge, there are no studies examining bacterial colonization of bandage contact lenses after PRK using prophylactic moxifloxacin.