Traditional
Lasik Surgery
Lasik
stands for Laser-Assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis.
It is a procedure which can significantly reduce a
person’s use of contact lenses or glasses. It is
most often performed on patients who are suffering from
Myopia or nearsightedness. People suffer from Myopia can only see objects
nearby clearly and anything that is distant is projected as
being blurry. This blurriness is referred
as a refractive error and is caused by an imperfection in
the person’s eyeball, cornea or lens. Lasik makes use of an
excimer Laser, which is a UV laser, for precision removal of corneal
tissue in order to correct its shape for better refraction.
In traditional
Lasik procedure, a special knife
called microkeratome blade is used
to slice a flap of the corneal tissue away from the outer
layer of the patient’s eyeball. This hinged flap is gently
lifted away and a laser is then used to cut and reshape the
patient’s underlying corneal tissue. The surgeon has already
calculated beforehand just how much tissue would be removed.
Once the cutting and reshaping is done, the
surgeon will places the flap back and secures it. There
are no stitches needed but an eye patch or shield would be
placed over the eyes to prevent pressure or accidental
rubbing of the eye. This eye patch would be kept there
until the eye has had enough time to heal.
Some risks
are
involved in this procedure. The common complications which
might occur are corneal scarring,
corneal infection, permanent warping of the cornea,
problems with night driving, flap
complications, visual symptoms like glare and haloes, a
decrease in your vision at high altitudes, light
sensitivity, dryness and scratchiness. Permanent loss of
vision might happen but the cases are very rare.
Before the surgery, a complete
examination of the patient’s eye would be done to make sure
that his eyes are in a healthy condition to undergo
the procedure. After confirming this, the doctor will then
measure the curvature of the patient’s cornea as well as the
position and size of his pupils. The doctor will also check
the shape of the patient's eyes
to ensure that there is no irregularities that would
prevent the use of Lasik. The thickness of the cornea
would also be measured to make sure that there would be enough left after it
has been cut
and reshaped. A consent form must be signed
before the procedure. Signing this form would confirm that
you have full knowledge of the benefits, risks, alternative
options as well as the possible complications that comes
with undergoing the procedure.
During the surgery,
the anesthetic in the
form of an eye drop is used to numb the eye’s surface. Lasik
will only take up to 10
to 15 minutes for each eye and is an outpatient procedure.
The entire surgical procedure is
done while the patient is awake. During the same session,
both eyes can be done.
After the surgery,
the patient might
experience a burning sensation and the feeling of having
something in his eye. There could also be some mild
discomfort but the doctor would prescribe a gentle pain
reliever for this. It is important not to rub the eye after getting the procedure done to prevent the flap from moving or getting
dislodged. The patient should also avoid whirlpools, contact sorts,
eye make-up and swimming for at least 2-4 weeks after
surgery.
As for recovery,
it might
take about 3-6 months for the vision to completely stabilize.
There are instances wherein a patient might need additional
surgery in order to reach the best possible quality of
vision. These second operation are often referred to as
“enhancement surgery”. These enhancement surgeries can help
improve the patient’s distance vision but it might not
improve visual symptoms like haloes and glares.
