Why does the military do PRK eye surgery instead of LASIK?

07 Dec Why does the military do PRK eye surgery instead of LASIK?

That was true at one time but not much now. In most branches of the American military LASIK and PRK are both routinely performed on active personnel. There are few LASIK disqualifications of military applicants including for aviation. Furthermore, even most of these are reversed upon application for medical waiver after an extensive ocular/visual evaluation.

After years of study, the Air Force decided to change their long-standing policy which disqualified applicants who have had LASIK from flight and navigator training. The change became effective on May 21, 2007. The Navy now also accepts (and performs) LASIK candidates for most all training avenues including combat.

The original concern with LASIK was that in situations of high physical stress the flap might be more vulnerable to traumatic avulsion (dislocation). In PRK there is no flap. Based on extensive experience in Afghanistan and the Middle East war zones it appears there is little if any difference in vulnerability to vision-disabling trauma between the LASIK and PRK.

Written by J. Trevor Woodhams, M.D. – Chief of Surgery, Woodhams Eye Clinic

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