Here is a Handy List of Various Vision Corrective Procedures

PRK - Photorefractive Keratectomy

This PRK vision correction procedure is very similar to LASIK surgery and the main difference is that there is no use of microkeratome and there will not be any creation of corneal flap.

Unlike in LASIK surgery, in PRK procedure the excimer laser will be used for correction directly over your corneal surface and in the process the central epithelium and Bowman's layer which is nothing but the second layer of your cornea, will also get removed.

Due to the removal of epithelium, you will need more time for healing and recuperation and you will have the discomfort of blurred vision until the epithelium regeneration.

The actual surgery part using laser will result only for 20 to 90 seconds and after the PRK procedure, a clear-bandage contact lens will be put in place so as to make you comfortable until the removed corneal epithelium regenerates and this may take around 4 to 6 days.

A properly conducted typical PRK procedure can last up to four to five minutes for single eye and it is up to you to get operated either on one eye or on both eyes on a single day depending upon the doctor’s advice and your mind set.

Due to the discomfort and delay in getting back a good corrected vision on the operated eye, many surgeons do not opt for operating on both eyes on a single day even if preferred by the patient. And it is always better to leave at least a week’s time between two surgeries.

There may be a chance that few patients may suffer from certain corneal problems such as irregularities on corneal surface or a thin and fragile cornea and such candidates are best suited for PRK instead of LASIK surgery.

The only known disadvantage is the time lag in getting back the vision and the prolonged recovery time in case of PRK procedures.

When it comes to the advantage of PRK over LASIK is that in PRK you will not get any flap complications as corneal flap is not at all created.

However, in PRK procedure, the chance for the occurrence of other related complications such as overcorrection, undercorrection, induced astigmatism, night glare, infection, severe inflammation, dry eye, haze, halos, loss of best corrected vision, and regression is very similar to that of LASIK surgery.

Once the PRK procedure is over, you need to use anti-inflammatory eye-drops for quite a long time say at least three months continuously to avoid the risk of corneal haze or scarring.

Though the patient may under go adequate postoperative care and treatment over a period of time, say few weeks time, regression may start to show up but, the amount of regression will be very nominal and small.

In case of a visually significant regression, you may need an enhancement procedure and this will be normally performed within a period of six to nine months time after the original procedure was performed.

When you consider the need for enhancement procedure, getting an optimal vision through PRK procedure will be significantly longer than the LASIK procedure.

Intacs Corneal Ring Segments

This particular procedure was approved by the FDA in year 1999, and the Intacs corneal ring segments is very useful for patients who suffer from mild myopia and minimal astigmatism and the procedure is also suitable for correcting nearsightedness.

Presently, FDA has approved usage of this procedure for correcting nearsightedness up to a range of 3.00 diopters and the other condition should be that the patient should be more than twenty one years old.

In case of older people having astigmatism, the range should be well within in 1.00 diopter. The people should first understand that this procedure is not meant for correcting astigmatism, even up to a range of 1.00 diopter or less, and they should understand that they would be astigmatic under postoperative conditions.

Intacs Corneal Ring Segments procedure is relatively new one when compared to LASIK and PRK procedures and hence there are no readily available reference sources for studying any track records.

In Intacs Corneal Ring Segments procedure, after making small incisions over your peripheral corneal area, two plastic ring segments will be inserted in the peripheral area of the cornea.

Then a temporary suture will be made to close the incision. The central cornea portion will get flattened due to the presence of the plastic rings at the peripheral area and thus makes a correction in the vision.

Though the impregnated plastic rings are intended to be permanent, if the patient so desires to reverse the vision correction, then the plastic ring segments can be surgically removed to restore the patient’s original vision.

In majority of the surgeries performed to restore the original vision, after the removal of the rings, many patients were able to get back their vision to their original preoperative stage.

However, in few cases, patients did not get back their original state of vision and hence the FDA is not in favor of reversing the Intacs Corneal Ring Segments procedure.

But, the Intacs Corneal Ring Segments procedure is definitely a reversible procedure if so desired by the patients.

When compared with LASIK, Intacs procedure will take more time and it may be in the range of 15 minutes for one eye under the usage of anesthetic drops.

The recovery time for obtaining a good vision will also be more in Intacs procedure when compared with LASIK and patients undergo Intacs Corneal Ring Segments procedure will tend to become more uncomfortable during their postoperative period.

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