Lasek eye surgery - The Facts

Disadvantages of LASEK Surgery

Although the decreased thickness of the corneal flap during LASEK surgery makes vision correction surgery an option for patients with thin corneas or patients with steep corneas, there are some disadvantages to this procedure. Specifically LASEK surgery usually has a longer recovery period than LASIK. It is not unusual for LASEK patients to not have corrected vision for one to two weeks after the procedure, while LASIK patients may have corrected vision after only one day.

LASEK surgery patients also typically report more discomfort following the procedure than LASIK patients. However, this discomfort usually only lasts for one to two days. Other disadvantages to LASEK surgery involving the recovery period include the need to wear a specially-designed contact lens as a bandage for three to four days after the procedure and the need to use topical steroid drops for longer than required after LASIK surgery.

LASEK - Laser-Assisted Sub-Epithelial Keratectomy

LASEK - Laser-Assisted Sub-Epithelial Keratectomy (or Laser Epithelial Keratomileusis) and Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK)  are laser eye surgery procedures intended to correct a person's vision, reducing dependency on glasses or contact lenses. The first PRK procedure was performed in 1987 by Dr. Theo Seiler, then at the Free University Medical Center in Berlin, Germany. The first LASEK procedure was performed at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in 1996 by ophthalmologist, refractive surgeon, Dimitri Azar. The procedure was later popularized by Camellin, who coined the term LASEK for laser epithelial keratomileusis. LASEK and PRK permanently change the shape of the anterior central cornea using an excimer laser to ablate (remove by vaporization) a small amount of tissue from the corneal stroma at the front of the eye, just under the corneal epithelium. The outer layer of the cornea is removed prior to the ablation. A computer system tracks the patient's eye position 60 to 4,000 times per second, depending on the brand of laser used, redirecting laser pulses for precise placement. Most modern lasers will automatically center on the patient's visual axis and will pause if the eye moves out of range and then resume ablating at that point after the patient's eye is re-centered.