A Comparative Study Between Laser and Manual Removal of Corneal Epithelium for Photorefractive Keratectomy

Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) is a laser eye surgery used to ablate the corneal stroma to correct visual refractive errors . PRK was developed in 1983 by Dr. Steven Trokel and colleagues and first performed in 1987 by Dr. Theo Seiler in Berlin. After receiving approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1996, PRK was briefly the preferred surgical treatment of ametropia as it provided more predictable and stable results than incisional keratotomy. However, the number of PRK procedures fell in the late 1990s with the growing popularity of laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK). The study aims to compare the visual and refractive outcomes along with the pain score and patient satisfaction after photorefractive keratectomy in patients who underwent transepithelial or mechanical removal technique