Vision correction surgery, also called refractive and laser eye surgery, refers to any surgical procedure used to fix vision problems. Recent years have seen huge advances in this field. Refractive and laser eye surgery allow many patients to see better than any other time in their lives.
Most types of vision correction surgery reshape your cornea, the clear front part of your eye. That lets light travel through it and focus properly on the back of your eye, or retina. Other procedures replace your eye’s natural lens.
• TYPES OF Refractive Surgery
A) Lasik: LASIK, or laser in-situ keratomileusis, works for people who are nearsighted, farsighted, or have astigmatism. The doctor makes a flap in the outer layer of the cornea to get to the tissue underneath.
B) PRK: PRK, or photorefractive keratectomy, is used to correct mild to moderate nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism. Like LASIK, a surgeon uses a laser to reshape your cornea.
C) RLE and PRELEX: RLE stands for refractive lens exchange. Other names include PRELEX, clear lens exchange (CLE), clear lens extraction (CLE), and refractive lens replacement (RLR).
PRELEX, short for presbyopic lens exchange, is a procedure used for presbyopia, or loss of flexibility in your eye.
D) Intacs: Intacs are also known as intracorneal ring segments, or ICR. The doctor makes a small incision in your cornea and places two crescent-shaped plastic rings at the outer edge.
E) Phakic Intraocular Lens Implants : Phakic intraocular lens implants, or implantable contact lenses (ICL), are designed for people who are too nearsighted for LASIK and PRK. The doctor makes a small incision at the edge of your cornea and either attaches the implant lens to your iris or inserts it behind your pupil.
F) LRI : LRI is short for Limbal Relaxing Incision, or an astigmatic keratotomy. It isn’t laser eye surgery but a surgical procedure used to correct astigmatism.