Corneal Epithelial Wound Healing

The objective of this study is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of Lacripep as a therapy for superficial corneal injury repair after Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK).

A prospective randomized double-blind controlled trial will be conducted. The informed consent of each patient will be obtained prior to the procedure. All patients will undergo a classic PRK procedure Patients will be instructed to use eye drops blindly in both eyes at a frequency of six times daily: * In one eye: Insulin drops formulated by combining regular human insulin with artificial tears containing polyethylene glycol (PEG 400) 0,25% at a concentration of 1 unit per milliliter. * In the other eye: Placebo drops containing only artificial tears. For the double-blind trial, two identical vials will be provided to each patient: one labeled R (for the right eye) and one labeled L (for the left eye). Using the bloc randomization method, the pharmacy will be the only entity aware of the composition of each vial, ensuring that 50% of patients use insulin drops in the right eye and 50% in the left eye. Every week the drops will be prepared one day prior to the PRK procedure and will be stored in a refrigerator, to be used within one week of their preparation date. Patients will be examined by two ophthalmology residents on days 2 and 4 post-operatively. The size of the epithelial defect in both eyes will be measured using the ImageJ software. Thus, the primary outcome of the study is the ulceration closure rate: the smaller the defect, the faster the epithelial healing is. Additionally, a comparison of subjective symptoms reported by the patient in each eye will be recorded.

The aim of this prospective, contralateral, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study is the evaluation of the performance of a fixed combination of dexpanthenol and hyaluronic acid preservative-free eye artificial tears eye drops, in corneal wound healing after trans epithelial photorefractive keratectomy. One eye of each patient, randomly determined, will be assigned to receive artificial tears containing a combination of dexpanthenol-hyaluronic acid (study group) while the fellow eye will receive Placebo / identical combination containing the same ingredients and hyaluronic acid without dexpanthenol (control group). The drops will be applied hourly postoperatively, starting one hour after the surgery. All subjects will be treated until the day of complete reepithelialization or a maximum of 7 days postoperatively. Researchers will compare the epithelialization between the two eyes. The primary endpoint is the time to reepithelialization.The secondary endpoints are the intra-individual differences measured in each eye in terms of epithelial defect size in each visit, subjective evaluation of pain (discomfort) and subjective evaluation of vision.