Laser Eye Surgery

Alternatively utilizing scalpel, laser is used to cut tissues on a surgery. The adoption of a laser scalpel is a distinct technique of surgical operation as a good example, and soft tissue laser surgery, in which the laser beam zapssoft tissue with high water content. A way in which the molecular bonds of something are melted with the use of laser is called Laser resurfacing.

LASIK (laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis) is a class of refractive surgery for adjusting myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism. LASIK is performed by ophthalmologists using a laser. LASIK is similar to other surgical rehabilitative step such as photorefractive keratectomy, PRK, (also called ASA, Advanced Surface Ablation) though it provides favors such as faster patient recovery. Both LASIK and PRK embodies progress over radial keratotomy in the surgical treatment of vision problems, and are in this fashion reasonable choices to wearing corrective eyeglasses or contact lenses for many patients.

The LASIK technique was made reachable by the Colombia-based Spanish ophthalmologist Jose Barraquer, who, around 1950 in his clinic in Bogotá, Colombia, developed the first microkeratome, and developed the mode used to cut thin flaps in the cornea and alter its shape, in a procedure he called keratomileusis. Barraquer also researched the question of how much of the cornea had to be left unchanged to provide stable long-term end.

The accepted word for changing a patient's optical measurements by means of an operation is Refractive Surgery. The additionof lasers in refractive surgeries brought about Rangaswamy Srinivasan's work. In 1980, Srinivasan, working at IBM Research Lab, discovered that an ultraviolet Excimer laser could etch living tissue in an accurate way with no thermal damage to the surrounding area. He named the phenomenon Ablative Photodecomposition (APD). The use of the excimer laser to ablate corneal tissue for the alteration of optical errors, such as myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism, was first suggested by Stephen Trokel, MD, of the Edward S. Harkness Eye Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY. Dr. Trokel, who along with Dr. Charles Munnerlyn and Terry Clapham, founded VISX, Incorporated. The first human eye was treated using a VISX laser system by Dr. Marguerite B. MacDonald, MD in 1989.

Today, faster lasers, larger spot areas, bladeless flap incisions, intraoperative pachymetry, and wavefront-optimized and -guided techniques have greatly advanced the authenticity of the procedure compared to that of 1991. In spite of that, the fundamental limitations of Excimer lasers and disagreeable ruin of the eye's nerves have spawned research into many alternatives to "plain" LASIK, including LASEK, Epi-LASIK, sub-Bowman’s Keratomileusis aka thin-flap LASIK, wavefront-guided PRK and modern intraocular lenses.

The most generally known complexity from refractive surgery is the number of "dry eyes." According to an American Journal of Ophthalmology study of March 2006, the incidence rate of dry eyes from LASIK after the six month post operative healing period was 36%. The FDA (Food and Drugs Administration) website states that "dry eyes" may be forever.

The high incidence of dry eyes requires a proper preoperative and post operative evaluation and treatment for dry eyes. There are a number of successful treatments for dry eyes including artificial tears, prescription tears and punctal occlusion. Punctal occlusion is accomplished by placing a collagen plug in the natural drain of the eye. Dry eyes, if left untreated can menace the visual outcome and result in retrogression of the effect of LASIK or PRK, or in severe cases result in "chronic dry eye" where permanent chronic pain and visual impairment is a possible result. It also must be noted that some incidences of dry eye cannot be successfully alleviated using the above mentioned techniques, so a potential lasik patient must consider that dry eye can be a permanent outcome and untreatable.

Laser surgery or eye surgery is important since we are talking about our vision here. But we also have to take into consideration how much does laser surgery costs to be able to know how much resources are going to sacrifice in exchange for our healthy vision.