Yes, if one had undergone PRK procedure, he or she can go through Lasik after it. There is a technical requirement however, for the same to get done. PRK and Lasik are usually for same purpose, like correction of refraction error.
PRK and Lasik
PRK and Lasik are proven to be safe, effective and proven. The procedures correct the vision by applying a non-thermal or cool light beam, which is controlled by computer. The movement and focus of the laser beam has been clearly programmed according to the prescription of the patient. The laser is turned on and off at any moment by the surgeon, during the procedure. Risk of errors can be reduced to be a great extent, because several safeguards are in place.
Why Lasik After PRK?
Usually PRK should resolve the problem of vision, caused from refractive errors. However, sometimes, reading may not be clear as expected without glasses. Hence, to get better the vision, Lasik may be required. Both the PRK and Lasik are painless and if one has to go deeper, Lasik is less painful compared to the Lasik surgery, as this procedure needs exposing of the deeper cornea layers. After PRK, usually enough time is required to decide to go to the Lasik, as patient has to wait for long enough time till the protective surface cells grow back over the surgical area treated. Usually it takes at least a few weeks to know the complete results after the PRK procedure.
Technical Requirement
There is one technical requirement to undergo Lasik after PRK. The potential patient should have adequate thickness of cornea available. Most commonly, however, enough thickness of cornea may not be available to perform Lasik, since significant amount of tissue above the cornea surface might have been removed with the original PRK procedure. technically, in such cases, PRK may not be feasible, since no adjustments can be done. In such cases, PRK may be repeated. In case the PRK procedure performed prior to Lasik hasn’t removed much of the tissue, Lasik procedure can be followed. When this is the basic requirement, other factors and requirements are assessed during the pre-operative evaluation.
Another requirement is that there must be a gap of three to four years in between these procedures. When the Lasik is performed, followed by the PRK procedure, the surface tissue over the cornea has to be dealt very carefully, since usually less amount of tissue is left. And when the laser is used instead of blade, the risk of complication would be lesser. So, there would be hardly any problems associated with the similar procedure repeated.
When the Lasik procedure is performed after PRK, usually vision recovery would be slow and still restoring vision would be great. The overall result and recovery of vision can be much better after performing the second procedure, Lasik, after PRK.