About Refractive Surgery
Several types of surgery have been used to correct the refractive error (the amount of glasses prescription needed to help you see) that causes the most common forms of nearsightedness (myopia). Refractive surgery aims to correct nearsightedness by changing the shape of the cornea (a clear structure on the outermost central part of your eye, it is responsible for most of the focusing power of the eye).
There are three main types of refractive surgery:
Laser in-situ keratomileusis (LASIK) is currently the most commonly used corrective surgery for nearsightedness in the United States. LASIK has a high success rate and low complication rate for nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. In general, it requires less healing time, is less painful, and offers a faster visual recovery than photorefractive keratectomy (PRK).
Excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) is another type of corrective surgery for nearsightedness that is used less frequently. Like LASIK, PRK has a high success rate and low complication rate for low to moderate nearsightedness. Disadvantages of PRK include more pain and a longer time period for recovery and stability of vision when compared to LASIK.
Radial keratotomy (RK) is successful and safe for people who have mild to moderate nearsightedness (less than 3 diopters). Although it is still used in some cases, because of its lower predictability it has been mostly replaced by LASIK and PRK.
Corneal ring implants have been used for low levels of myopia. The procedure is effective for only a small persentage of patients and the long term results have not been completely discovered. Other procedures such as clear lens extraction and phakic intra ocular lenses are options in some rare cases.
