Free eye surgery popular in Army
By Kimberly Hefling
Associated Press
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — Command Sgt. Maj. Kurt Pinero looked up from the operating table after laser eye surgery and could make out the pictures on the TV across the room.
Christopher Berkey • Associated Press
"It was amazing," said the 45-year-old Iraq war veteran. "It was the first time I could see that far since I was a child."
According to Maj. Glenn Sanford of the Warfighter Refractive Eye Surgery Clinic at Fort Campbell, Ky., the number of soldiers receiving and requesting refractive eye surgery has "gone through the roof" as they prepare for deployment. Soldiers home from war with vision problems also are eager to undergo the procedure.
After months in the Iraqi desert fumbling with dusty contacts, smudged eyeglasses and prescription goggles, soldiers by the thousands are flocking to get refractive eye surgery. And the Army's picking up the tab.
"Our workload and number of patients has gone through the roof," said Maj. Glenn Sanford of the two-year-old Warfighter Refractive Eye Surgery Clinic at Fort Campbell's Blanchfield Army Hospital.
About 26,000 soldiers have undergone the surgery at Army clinics nationwide since it was first made available at Fort Bragg, N.C., four years ago.
More than 9,000 of the surgeries have been done at Fort Bragg, and an additional 8,000 soldiers at the post are on a waiting list to have the procedure between now and January, when many are due to be deployed.
The surgery is regarded by the military as a way to help soldiers see better on the battlefield, where split-second decisions can save lives. Soldiers without glasses can also more easily use instruments such as night-vision goggles.
In combat, soldiers who lose their glasses are not only a danger to themselves, but also a liability to others who must look after them.
Priority for the surgery is typically given to soldiers most likely to be in combat. It is offered at eight Army medical centers and at least 10 other Navy and Air Force medical facilities.
The surgery costs the Army about $1,000 per soldier compared with an average $1,785 per eye in the civilian sector. That's because the military is not doing the surgery for profit and does not have to pay expenses such as advertising.
In 1993, the military's first refractive surgery program started at Naval Medical Center San Diego. The surgery was done on Navy SEALs — many of whom had problems with losing contacts or glasses while parachuting or in the water.
Of 450,000 active Army soldiers, an estimated one-third are potentially eligible for surgery, said Col. Kraig Bowers, refractive surgery consultant for the Army surgeon general. But with its current budget, the Army is able to treat only about 10,000 to 12,000 soldiers a year.
The two types of procedures commonly done by the military are photorefractive keratectomy, or PRK, and laser kerato-mileusis, or LASIK.
In PRK, a laser is used to reshape the surface of the cornea. LASIK involves cutting a flap in the cornea and using a laser to reshape the exposed corneal tissue before the flap is put back.
Most of the more than half a million people who get the surgery every year in the civilian sector opt for LASIK because of the convenience — with the patient often returning to work the next day.
PRK has a longer healing time — up to a week — but it is the choice of most rough-and-tumble soldiers because it is regarded as more durable. Jumping out of helicopters or running through the woods could potentially cause damage to the flap created by the LASIK procedure.
That's also why most forms of LASIK are disallowed for those doing combat dives and Air Force pilots flying at altitudes higher than 14,000 feet. Air Force pilots are required to have perfect vision when they start. However, they can get PRK if their eyesight worsens.
Eye surgery is not recommended for people taking certain medications or those experiencing health problems such as glaucoma.
