Lasik & Refractive Surgery

Refractive Errors

Refractive error is a condition in which defective or blurred vision occurs due to improper focussing of light rays in the eye due to various reasons. Common refractive errors are:

• Myopia- Light focusses in front of retina. Distant objects appear blurred.
• Hypermetropia- Light focusses at the back of retina. Near objects appear blurry, as the condition progresses even far objects appear blurry.
• Presbyopia- Condition associated with aging that leads to progressive inability to focus on near objects.
• Astigmatism- Distorted vision since light does not focus vision evenly on the retina.

Treatment

Refractive errors can be treated or corrected by following options:

• Spectacles- They are the most common methods of treatment for all forms of refractive errors. The type of lenses used depend on the type of refractive error.
• Contact lenses- If a patient doesn’t want to use spectacles, he or she can go in for contact lenses that are placed on the surface of the cornea and are invisible to others.
• Refractive surgery- Refractive surgery is the only method for permanent treatment of refractive errors. Following methods of Refractive surgery are currently popular:

Lasik

Lasik laser is a very popular and effective method for treatment of refractive error or removal of glasses. It involves creation of a thin superficial flap on the cornea ( by a blade or laser) and then ablation of the required stromal tissue for the cornea followed by reposition of the flap. The downtime of the procedure is very less with quick recovery, so this is a very popular method. A detailed eye examination and a few tests ( Pentacam, Pachymetry, Orbscan, etc ) are done before the surgery to find out the suitability of the patient for the surgery.

A few more terms are in use for various variations or types of surgery as follows: C-lasik, I-lasik, Femto Lasik, Smile, Contura, etc.

In Femtolasik, laser is used to creatd the initial flap instead of blade.

In Smile, no flap is created but a small lenticule is removed from the stoma by abltion which is expressed through a smile shaped incision. One should discuss with ones doctor regarding the suitability of the type of procedure.

ICL

ICLS is a method generally used for high powers not correctable by lasik. Lenses are placed inside the eye to correct te high powers.