Types of Laser Eye Surgery Procedures

Laser Eye Surgery is also known as Vision Correction Surgery and Refractive Eye Surgery. This is a surgical procedure performed by expert eye-surgeon to correct vision problems. There are types of laser eye surgeries and most of them work by reshaping the cornea so that light traveling through it is properly focused onto the retina located in the back of the eye. The other types of such procedures involve replacing the eye’s natural lens. Following are some of the common, important and frequently done surgeries by experts for patients.

•    LASIK: The most common type of laser surgery. It stands for laser in-situ keratomileusis. It is performed to correct vision in people who are nearsighted, farsighted, and have astigmatism. A flap is made in the outer layer of the cornea so that the underlying tissue can be accessed. Then surgery involves correcting vision by reshaping underlying corneal tissue. This is done so that it can properly focus light into the eye and onto the retina.

•    PRK: It stands for photorefractive keratectomy. This type of laser eye surgery is used to correct mild to moderate nearsightedness, farsightedness, and/or astigmatism. In this procedure, an eye surgeon uses a laser to reshape the cornea. This laser, which delivers a cool pulsing beam of ultraviolet light, is used on the surface of the cornea.

•    LASEK: It sounds similar to LASIK, but it is different from it. LASEK is a type of surgery, laser epithelial keratomileusis, which is a variant of PRK. In this procedure, an epithelial flap is created and then epithelial cells are loosened using an alcohol solution. A laser is used to reshape the cornea and the flap is replaced and secured with a soft contact lens while it heals.

•    RLE: Refractive Lens Exchange, RLE, is a procedure commonly known as clear lens extraction. It is performed for cataracts and involves making a small incision at the edge of the cornea to remove the natural lens of the eye and replace it with a silicone or plastic lens.

Above are some common and important types of laser eye surgery. There are other types of laser surgery available and performed by expert for patients to correct different eye-problems and diseases. Laser Clinic offers expert medical assistance for all patients suffering from any type of eye-problems, eye-diseases.