Laser Eye Surgery: LASIK, PRK, and LASEK

A surgical subspecialty, ophthalmology deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders.Just like any other medical field, it is also going through numerous advancements. Vision correction surgery has seen a new revolution in the form of laser eye surgery. Laser eye surgery benefits include lower risk and less recovery time. Below are some laser eye surgeries:

LASIK

LASIK stands for Laser-Assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis. LASIK surgery is one of the most well-known refractive surgeries. It is a blade-free surgery as it only utilizes two lasers to reshape the cornea. It is used to treat eye conditions like myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, and presbyopia. It is recommended because it causes the least discomfort, and its recovery period is faster than other laser eye surgery methods. Its success rate is quite high. The great thing about this surgery is that you need just topical eye drops as an anesthetic. Let’s discuss the LASEK procedure:

●   The first laser uses a femtosecond laser that makes a flap in the superficial cornea that measures 105um deep. It’s an infrared laser that uses a wavelength of 1053nm. This laser creates millions of small gas bubbles that again combine to shape this superficial flap. This silent laser takes less than 15 seconds to complete the flap.

●   The second laser uses an excimer laser that is used to reshape the cornea that is under the flap. If you have myopia, then this laser will be used to flatten the curvature of the cornea. In cases of hyperopia, this laser will steepen the cornea. But still, the surgery will be done as per the treatment prescription for your glasses.

 

●   The higher the treatment prescription of your glasses or contact lenses, the more corneal tissue is reshaped. This laseremits a cool beam of 193 nm of ultraviolet light. Unlike the first laser, you can hear its sound.

 

●   Approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), all the procedures for this operation take around 10–15 minutes.

If we discuss LASIK vs. glasses and contact lenses, we will understand that people will choose the latter due to affordability. But they need to know that LASIK will have a permanent result.

PRK

PRK stands for Photorefractive Keratectomy. PRK is the predecessor to LASIK and is the original laser eye surgery technique. A blade-free technique, it reshapes the cornea just like LASIK, but the difference is that in PRK, reshaping is done on the surface once the epithelial cells are removed. It is good for treating and correcting myopia or nearsightedness but is not recommended for hyperopia or long-sightedness. Unlike LASIK, recovery after PRK surgery is more. PRK existed even in 1988 and was FDA-approved in 1995.

LASEK

LASEK stands for Laser-Assisted Subepithelial Keratomileusis. LASEK is quite identical to PRK because the corneal epithelium is removed. But unlike PRK, it is not completely removed; instead, the ultra-thin "flap" of epithelium is pushed off to one side of the cornea. Thus, it is able to remain attached to the eye. After the surgery, the epithelial tissue is repositioned. The eye is then covered with a bandage contact lens so that it can heal itself. There are some risks and complications with LASEK. It creates more discomfort and takes a long time to recover.

Only after gaining proper knowledge and surgical expertise, a medico can perform these surgeries. As these surgeries are frequently being performed nowadays, aspiring ophthalmologists must get proper education, surgical skill set, and training related to it.

DigiNerve, a renowned medical edtech platform providesone of the best ophthalmology lectures. To further enhance the student’s knowledge, along with the video lectures for ophthalmology, you get practice questions, notes, and much more in ophthalmology MD online.

Conclusion

Laser eye surgery will surely become more common in the near future. There are different types of surgeries as per the needs and budgets of the patients. Aspiring ophthalmologists can enroll in online ophthalmology coursesto get interactive ophthalmology video lectures for medical students andexcel in ophthalmology MD course.

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