What is LASIK?
LASIK (Laser in situ Keratomileusis) is the most widely practiced vision correcting operation all over the world with more than 50 million successful procedures performed by today. In Silmalaser eye clinic LASIK correction ensuring stable operation results has been used for 10 years. We usually recommend our patients to perform laser procedure on both eyes at the same time (i.e. on the same day) in order to achieve the desired result quickly and conveniently, and without having to interrupt everyday activities and professional tasks.
What will happen during the procedure?
In operating room special anaesthetic eye drops are instilled into the eyes in order the whole procedure would be painless for the patient. Eyelashes are cleaned and fixed with a film. The eye will be kept open during the procedure with a help of an eyelid-holder, which prevents eye-blinking and can cause slight discomfort, but is painless. A special automated surgical instrument of micromechanical precision (a microkeratome) is used to cut a round flap out of the surface layer of the cornea that remains attached to the cornea on one side (see figures 2 and 3). The natural blood supply of the cornea remains intact and the flap is opened similarly to the cover of a book (figure 4).
The bottom layer of the cornea flap, which was folded back, is finished and remodelled with a computer-steered laser beam (500 Hz ExcimerLaser at Silmalaser eye-clinic) according to the refractive disorder of the specific eye (figure 5). The laser beam is tracked by a system (Eyetracker), which ensures that the treatment is focused on the centre of the area being remodelled and that the laser beam follows the tiniest movements of the eye automatically (figure 6).
After laser finishing, the flap formed of the surface layer of the cornea is inserted back to its original location and the procedure is repeated on the other eye (figures 7 and 8). After the procedure, the patient rests for an hour, then the eyes are examined by the surgeon and an appointment is made for the follow-up on the next day.
In whom is LASIK a suitable option?
The best results are achieved with LASIK procedure in case of correcting short-sightedness of up to -9 dioptres or long-sightedness of up to + 4 dioptres and astigmatism of up to +/- 4 dioptres. In rare cases, due to the peculiarity of the eye, it is also possible to correct larger disorders of visual acuity.
Does LASIK ensure stable vision?
One year after the surgery, the result will differ by up to +/0.5 dioptres from the desired result in approximately 3% of the operated patients. If necessary, a follow-up surgery is performed free of charge at our clinic within three years after the surgery. Long-term studies have proven the stability of the results, i.e. the achieved result will be long-lasting.
The operations are performed by surgeon Kai Noor.