Refractive eye surgery is a general term for surgical procedures that can improve or correct the eye’s focus by permanently changing the shape of the cornea. Refractive errors can be corrected or reduced by refractive surgery. Until recently, if you were one of the millions of people with a refractive error, eyeglasses and contact lenses were the only options for correcting vision. But with the arrival of refractive surgery, some people with myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), astigmatism (a cornea with unequal curves), or presbyopia (aging eyes) may have their vision improved through surgery.

Laser assisted in situ keratomileusis, or LASIK, is a refractive procedure that uses an automated blade and a laser to permanently reshape the cornea. The reshaped cornea helps focus light directly onto the retina to produce clearer vision. LASIK is usually performed as an outpatient procedure using topical anesthesia with drops. The procedure itself generally takes about fifteen minutes. The surgeon creates a flap in the cornea with a microkeratome. The flap is lifted to the side and the cool beam of the excimer laser is used to remove a layer of corneal tissue. The flap is folded back to its normal position and sealed without sutures. The removal of corneal tissue permanently reshapes the cornea. Vision should be clear by the next day.

Currently we can perform the incisions and cuts in the cornea with the use of a Femtosecond Laser (FS) which allows 100% LASER refractive surgery, these procedures are superior to the conventional use of microkeratome LASIK (cutting blade) as the FS allows for more precise cuts and further reduce the possibility of complications.

Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) is one of several refractive surgery procedures used by ophthalmologists to permanently change the shape of the cornea to improve the way it focuses light on the retina. PRK is an outpatient procedure, done under topical anesthetic eyedrops. It takes about fifteen minutes. The epithelium, the outer cell layer of the cornea, is removed with a blade, alcohol or a laser. An excimer laser, which produces ultraviolet light and emits high-energy pulses, is used to remove a thin layer of corneal tissue. Your ophthalmologist enters your vision correction information in a computer and the laser beam vaporizes the surface of the cornea up to that precise depth. By breaking the bonds that hold the tissue molecules together, your cornea is reshaped, correcting the refractive error. Because no incisions are made, the procedure does not weaken the structure of the cornea. After PRK vision is blurry for 3 days to one week.