Everything you need to know about Lasik Eye Surgery

Lasik (laser assisted in situ keratomileusis) can be described as common treatment utilized to correct refractive errors such as myopia (short sightedness), hyperopia (long sightedness) as well as astigmatism. It's the most frequent type of laser eye treatment currently because of its long track record of good results along with the fairly short healing period as compared to other forms of refractive surgical procedure.

Lasik is commonly referred to as the "flap and zap" method. A fitting nickname because the surgical procedure consists of developing and raising a flap on the cornea, followed by excimer laser treatment (the "zap") in order to resurface your underlying cornea.

Before any kind of laser eye treatment can be administered, typical screening tests must be surpassed by the individual. Persons that usually use soft contact lenses need to cease use a minimum of a fortnight ahead of surgery. Hard contact users (RGP – rigid gas permeable) need to cease wear a minimum of 6 weeks ahead of refractive surgery.

The screening process eye examination involves 2 main measurements.

Your corneal size is measured with a pachymeter. Because the excimer laser utilized in lasik strips part of the cornea, adequate corneal thickness needs to be assessed. The minimum corneal thickness with regard to safety is dependant on the prescription that is required to be corrected.

Corneal topography is used in order to chart the front along with back surface curvatures of your cornea. This enables for irregularities within the cornea to generally be taken into consideration when proceeding with lasik, making sure the highest likelihood of ideal visual acuity postoperatively. Corneal astigmatism can even be recognized at this time.
The surgery consists of the formation of the flap along with laser remodelling. Ahead of all these actions, the patient will be given a local anaesthetic.

A corneal suction ring is placed over the eye in order to minimise movement while laser eye treatment takes place. With this in position, the actual flap is produced using either a microkeratome or fermatosecond laser (intralase). A hinge will be left in position and the flap will be folded away back. Your underlying corneal stroma will now be exposed, ready for laser remodelling.

Laser remodelling of your cornea consists of the effective use of an excimer laser. The laser ablates or simply vaporises your stroma in a restricted fashion. The depth and positioning of the laser pulses is measured from your corneal topography together with the pre-surgical refraction (spectacle prescription). Modern day excimer lasers include eye tracking systems which increase the accuracy and aids in the expected outcomes of your surgical treatment. This section of the laser eye treatment typically takes less than 10 seconds.

The flap is then carefully repositioned on the ablated cornea. The particular ophthalmologist involved will take proper care to not capture oxygen pockets or dust under the flap and stitching will not be required. The fast growing epithelium of your cornea will grow covering the sides of your flap within several hours and binding of your flap to your underlying cornea fortifies within the following days.

Post operatively, patients need to instil antibiotics and anti inflammatory eye drops at regular intervals.