Corneal haze after mechanical debridement for overcorrection after myopic photorefractive keratectomy

A 47-year-old man had photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) to correct myopia. Three months after surgery he was slightly overcorrected with +1.25-0.5/170 degrees. He then suffered a gout attack and showed a refraction of +2.5-0.5/4 degrees which decreased to +1.75-0.5 degrees. To reduce this permanent overcorrection we performed mechanical debridement of the corneal epithelium. the patient had haze grade 2-3 after 2 weeks and haze grade 0-1 some 4 months later. The refraction was +1-0.5/25 degrees. This case report indicates that mechanical debridement is able to reduce overcorrection after PRK and bears a risk of haze formation comparable to that associated with PRK.