TransPRK/LASIK St. Louis
Transepithelial PRK eye surgery
We are seeing research and technology advances in the field of refractive surgery at a nearly exponential rate. New and improved procedures, including LASIK and LASIK alternatives, are bringing the gift of clear, natural vision to more people every day—including those who have been told they were not candidates in the past due to strong prescriptions, thin corneas, astigmatism, or other issues that eliminated hope for so many.
Today, much can be done to provide or restore good vision. Among the newest approaches to laser vision correction are topography-guided PRK and transPRK, or transepithelial photorefractive keratectomy. In our St. Louis LASIK center, transepithelial PRK eye surgery begins when an excimer laser quickly and cleanly removes the very outermost layer of the eye, called the epithelium, without tools, alcohol, or suction. The same excimer laser then lasers the patient’s prescription onto the outside of the cornea, reducing or eliminating the eye’s prescription in a manner similar to the excimer laser treatment part of LASIK eye surgery. This approach is a modern take on PRK (sometimes called advanced surface ablation, ASA, or advanced PRK), a procedure first performed in the late 1980’s. New and improved versions of PRK eye surgery are offering our St. Louis patients additional options for modern laser eye correction – options to which they previously did not have access.
In our hands we have found this “touch-free” procedure to be minimally-invasive, safe, and gentle to the eye. The result is clear vision, faster healing, and plenty of those breathtaking moments when people see for the first time the beauty in the world that they’d been missing. Transepithelial PRK can be ideal for people who have had early versions of LASIK, or whose corneas are thin or irregular. Some branches of the military only allow PRK, and it can be a viable option for boxers or other athletes in contact sports.
One of the lasers used globally for laser eye surgery is called the Schwind Amaris laser, made by Schwind eye-tech-solutions of Germany. As with other lasers, the Schwind Amaris laser can be used for transepithelial PRK – it can be used to remove the corneal epithelium and then perform a corrective laser treatment. Schwind calls their version of this procedure SmartSurfACE Transepithelial PRK, or TransPRK for short. The US FDA has not approved the Schwind Amaris laser.
If you would like to know more about TransPRK, LASIK, or any of the six proven, effective LASIK alternatives, contact Brinton Vision at 314-375-2020, or schedule an appointment online by clicking here.