Surface Refractive Surgery Outcomes in Israeli Combat Pilots

Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) has long been the method of choice for refractive surgery in pilots, and was FDA approved U.S. Air Force aviators 2000. We retrospectively reviewed medical records 16 male combat pilots (mean age 25.0 ± 5.5 years) who had undergone bilateral laser with surface ablation (alcohol-assisted PRK: 81.25%, transepithelial-PRK: 18.75%), a mean baseline spherical equivalent (SE) −2.1 0.7 D right eye, −2.0 left. The follow-up 8.4 6.6 months. On last visit, uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) improved from 0.75 0.33 logMar to −0.02 0.03 (p < 0.001), 0.72 0.36 0.05 left eyes, respectively. percentages participants eye UCVA at least 0.0, −0.08, −0.18 logMAR (6/6, 6/5, 6/4 Snellen meters) were 100%, 37.5%, 6.2%, respectively, 93.7%, 43.75%, No complications occurred. This is first study assess outcomes cohort Israeli pilots. Surface effectively reduced spectacle reliance members this visually demanding profession.