Are you considering LASIK surgery? Freedom from eyeglasses and contact lenses. Freedom from low light and night vision problems. Laser vision surgery could be your best answer to visual freedom.

There are a variety of remedies to vision problems, ranging from the traditional solution of glasses and contact lenses up to and including vision correction procedures like LASIK procedure. It's very important to talk with your eye doctor about which vision correction procedure is right for you.

While LASIK is the most popular laser eye correction procedure, there are many other types that may be right for you. Your doctor will be able to select the best vision correction procedure for your eye problems and lifestyle. He or she may suggest:

• LASIK vision correction: The most widely performed laser vision correction procedure, LASIK is virtually painless and quick-healing.
• Customized LASIK or Wavefront LASIK: A new type of LASIK that creates a customized procedure to correct your vision. It addresses problems that eyeglasses, contact lenses, and conventional LASIK can't address.
• PRK: A type of laser vision correction used for some patients with specific needs. Your surgeon may recommend it depending on your diagnosis.
• LASEK: LASEK is similar to the PRK procedure, with some potential advantages.

IntraLasik

Lasik surgery involves two basic steps: creating a corneal flap and reshaping the cornea according to prescription. Traditionally, the corneal flap during LASIK has been created with a microkeratome blade. It is well documented that a large part of the risks and complications from LASIK arise during the creation of the flap. Surgical techniques have been modified and instruments have been refined to improve the results and decrease complications, but nothing has made as significant an impact on improving LASIK as the IntraLase femtosecond laser.

This instrument utilizes an infrared laser and IntraLASIK software to create a corneal flap at a pre-programmed depth and position. As a low-pressure soft suction ring holds the eye, the laser cleaves the corneal tissue at the predetermined depth forming bubbles of water and carbon dioxide at that plane. These bubbles connect to create a smooth surface that will become the interface between the flap and the corneal bed. The laser energy neither alters corneal curvature nor affects the prescription. There is no damage or change to the surrounding tissue.

The 3-micron laser spot size gives a very smooth ablation with pinpoint accuracy. The IntraLase pattern zigzags the laser energy starting at the hinge and then continuing back and forth across the cornea. Finally, the laser cuts the edge of the flap circumferentially, leaving the hinge area untouched. The whole process takes approximately one minute per eye.

The obvious advantages of a flap created with IntraLase over a microkeratome are that there is little to no possibility of corneal abrasion, thin flap, thick flap, partial flap, incorrect diameter, or buttonhole flap. No one has ever gone blind or needed a corneal transplant with IntraLase. Furthermore, because the flap is uniform thickness from center to edge (like a manhole cover), there is less chance of flap slippage or wrinkling if accidentally rubbed or bumped during healing after surgery. Also, because the resulting flap is uniform thickness across the diameter, the IntraLASIK is ideal for far-sightedness, high amounts of nearsightedness, large pupils, moderate to high astigmatism, and small corneal diameters where producing a large enough flap for treatment far into the periphery is critical. Yet another advantage is the ability to create a very thin flap so as to maintain optimal corneal thickness when treating higher prescriptions or thinner corneas.

Because IntraLase programs the laser to produce flaps with vertical edges (again, like a manhole cover), it is more difficult for the outer layer of cells to migrate down under the flap into the interface since the length of the route for those cells is increased.

There are minor disadvantages of the IntraLASIK approach compared to the traditional microkeratome. Because the suction ring is on the eye for up to a minute, although at a relatively low pressure, there may be a greater chance of temporary eye redness on 5 percent of patients.