COMPARISON OF 18-PERCENT ETHANOL AND MECHANICAL DEBRIDEMENT FOR EPITHELIAL REMOVAL BEFORE PHOTOREFRACTIVE KERATECTOMY

PURPOSE: To assess the safety of alcohol compared to mechanical debrid ement for epithelial removal prior to photorefractive keratectomy (PRK ). METHODS: Forty-one second eyes of 41 patients underwent epithelial removal using alcohol prior to PRK with a Nidek EC-5000 excimer laser. The results were compared with the results of the 41 first eyes of th e same patients that had mechanical debridement. RESULTS: Initial resu lts showed that the alcohol treated group tended to stay slightly hype ropic but had less haze compared to the mechanical debridement group. The treating surgeons favored alcohol as the preferred method of epith elium removal. CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol debridement is an effective proced ure although algorithms may have to be altered to take into account th e slightly different healing process postoperatively.