LASEK laser eye surgery vs Bladeless LASIK

LASEK laser eye surgery

Bladeless LASIK is a term used to market a newer type of LASIK introduced in 1999, also known as Intralase. Many people are made to wrongly assume that there is no cutting and no flap making in IntraLase LASIK as they have marketed the term ‘bladeless LASIK’ or ‘all laser’ Intralase.

Instead of using a surgical blade as in traditional LASIK, the "all laser" IntraLase eye surgery still cuts the cornea with a laser and still involves a flap. Intralase (bladeless LASIK) has claimed a reduced risk of intraoperative flap complications of the old LASIK because the laser is programmed to cut the cornea at a precise thickness. However, the risk of having flap related complications is not eliminated because it is not possible to eliminate this problem when the flap itself is still present.

In addition, the introduction of Intralase also creates a unique new set of problems like severe light sensitivity (photophobia) that can last from weeks to month, rainbow glare, opaque bubble layer and etc.

The newer LASEK laser eye surgery does not involve cutting and is a non-flap procedure, which means it eliminates LASIK flap complications.  With this new breakthrough, it is undisputable that the no-cuts, no-flaps LASEK eye surgery is so far the safest laser vision correction.

Disadvantages of LASEK laser eye surgery

LASEK laser eye surgery

 
Here are the lists of disadvantages of LASEK laser eye surgery:

 
1.   LASEK takes a few additional days of visual recovery time compared to LASIK. While in LASIK, a patient may be able to see clearly a day after the procedure.

 
2.  Patient may experience more discomfort with LASEK. However, this can be avoided by taking oral pain killers prior to the procedure. During the surgery, the doctor will apply anesthetic drops, so you would not feel any pain. After LASEK eye surgery, you are required to continue taking oral and eye drops pain killers for few days to minimize or eliminate the discomfort. 

 
3. Patient is required to wear a bandage contact lens for 3 – 4 days, which may not be necessary in LASIK. This temporary bandage contact lens serves to protect the cornea and aid in the healing process. 

 
4. Patient may also need to be compliant with a longer course of medication. A LASEK eye treated patient will be taking steroid eye drops for a couple of months rather than a few weeks in LASIK. The steroid drops are required to prevent cornea scarring. However, the strength of the steroids drops will be reduce gradually as the eye heals before any steroid related adverse effect steps in. 

 
5. And of course, the price of LASEK laser eye surgery will be more costly than LASIK.

 
Therefore, those who wants a rapid recovery, unwilling to tolerate a couple days of discomfort, non-compliant to treatment and willing to accept the risk of having flap related complication for the rest of your life should choose LASIK over LASEK laser eye surgery.

Why most people prefer the newer LASEK over LASIK?

LASEK laser eye surgery


More people are choosing the newer, non-cutting, no-flap, all laser LASEK laser eye surgery over LASIK due to several reasons.

1.  LASEK can treat those with thin corneas safely as it does not go deep into cornea. Since LASEK eye sugery involves no cutting and no flap is made, more tissue is available for the laser to treat. At the same time, the deeper corneal tissues are left intact, which is important in maintaining the structural strength of the eye.  Interesting to note that, a comparison study had been done between LASIK and LASEK treated eyes to assess their strength. Those LASIK treated eyes rupture more easily than LASEK. Whereas, those of LASEK treated eyes are able to withstand the similar pressure given to a normal untreated eye. So, rest assured that by doing LASEK, your eyes will still be as strong as a non-laser eye.

2.  LASEK laser eye surgery can treat those with high prescription safely. The reason for this is again because more tissue is available for treatment than LASIK does.
 

3.   No permanent dry eyes. Any laser eye procedure will cause temporary dry eyes in most of its patient (which can be treated with artificial tears and temporary punctal plugs). However, LASEK eye surgery does not cause any risk of permanent dry eyes which may be present in LASIK. The reason for this is LASEK surgery does not cut the deeper corneal tissue which contains the corneal nerves, responsible for the blinking reflex. 

4. No risk of flap complication during surgery. Common flap related complications intraoperatively during LASIK surgery include partial, irregular, buttonholed, and loss flaps. These are the most serious of all the LASIK flap complications as they can permanently cause visual problems. By logic, since they are no flap created during LASEK laser eye surgery, it’s not possible to get any intraoperative flap complications.

5.  No risk of flap complication after surgery such as debris under the flap, flap wrinkles, or epithelial ingrowth. 

6.  Better night vision after LASEK. Halos and night glare are result of the flap edge in LASIK. Therefore, since LASEK eye surgery has no flap edge, night vision will be better than LASIK.

7.  More safety after LASEK. Flap in LASIK never fully heals even after many years of the procedure and these flaps are at risk of being torn off when there’s excessive trauma. Those at risk will be people who are involved in contact sports or active lifestyles.

8.  Ease of Enhancement. Chance of a person requiring an enhancement later on is roughly same as his/her prescription prior to the procedure. E.g. you will have a 3% chance if your prescription is -3.00 D. Since there is no flap in LASEK  laser eye surgery, the doctor can easily do touch-up on the cornea without relifting the flap. Lifting up the flap is not always an easy task and may sometimes causes scarring of the cornea. Besides that, it’s still safer to do enhancement in LASEK as there’s more cornea tissue left.

LASEK laser eye surgery

New LASEK Laser Eye Surgery – Offers Maximum Safety and Visual Results

LASEK laser eye surgery

In the classic LASEK laser eye surgery, it follows the same principle of LASIK by creating an epithelial flap and reattaching it back to the cornea after the laser has reshaped the cornea. The difference is how the flap was created to reduce the flap-related complication of LASIK. LASEK surgery relies on diluted alcohol solution to create a thin epithelial flap.  Whereas in LASIK, the cornea is cut with a blade called microkeratome, resulting in a thicker flap.  

Common complications of practising the cutting and reattaching flap include:   

• thinner cornea resulting in weaker eye that may bulge out in future 
• causes dry eyes as the deeper cornea nerves responsible for the tearing reflex are cut,
• incomplete flap, consequently the surgery needs to be  switched to PRK,  
• buttonhole flap that usually occurred if a flat cornea is cut too deep, which may later affect central vision, 
• epithelial ingrowth  occurs when epithelial cells start to grow underneath the flap that may significantly affect the vision, 
• foreign bodies  or infection can get trapped under the  flap and if severe the surgeon may need to lift the flap and remove them,
• flap wrinkles that may distort the vision,  
• late traumatic flap dislocation that occurs when the flap is ripped off during contact sports because the flap never completely heals even after several years
  

The new LASEK  by Dr. Chynn, is similar with the traditional LASEK eye surgery but it just skips the part of reattaching the epithelial flap back to the cornea. This new technique offers more safety as it involves no cuts, no flaps and all laser procedures.  Therefore, complications associated with cutting and reattaching the flap in the cornea are eliminated. It can also safely treat people with higher prescriptions and thinner corneas.

The new LASEK eye surgery also gives the user a sharper vision. After LASEK, your vision can be sharper than with glasses or contact lens. Most of the patients who had the no-cuts, no-flaps, LASEK eye surgery can even see better than 20/20. It also eliminates halos and night glare. 

What makes it more amazing is that the risk of losing vision from no-cuts, no-flaps, LASEK eye surgery is lesser compared to wearing contact lenses for 20 years (the duration of people normally uses contacts). Even though the risk of becoming blind from infection of prolonged contacts wear, improper cleaning and storage of contacts is small, but if this risk is multiply by 20 years, the figure will be more significant. 

With the new LASEK laser eye surgery, laser vision correction has become safer and yet giving astounding results. Therefore, this will allow more people to enjoy the benefits of refractive surgery.

LASEK laser eye surgery

LASEK Laser Eye Surgery | LASEK Eye Surgery -Introduction

LASEK laser eye surgery

can transform your life - it eliminates your dependence on glasses or contact lenses, thus allowing you to freely pursue your pastimes, sports activities or career options. This once few minutes procedure will also save your money in the long run as no more visits to the optometrist and no more spending on expensive glasses, contact lenses and solutions. 

Laser Assisted SubEpithelial Keratectomy  or LASEK is a form of laser vision correction. LASEK eye surgery brings together the benefits of the LASIK and PRK, which are the 2 commonly, performed laser eye surgery. This is the reason why LASEK surgery is said to be better in terms of safety and outcome.

LASEK surgery is done by loosening the epithelial layer of the cornea by using an special  solution that enables the doctor to gently peel back the tissue. Then a laser beam is targeted to the exposed tissue. After the cornea is reshaped by the laser, the epithelial flap is returned back to its original position. A temporary contact lens is put in place to help in the recovery and the reduction of pain of the cornea.

LASEK surgery enables creation of a thin corneal flap, while LASIK involves cutting into deeper layers of the cornea with a microkeratome (a  surgical blade). This is the reason why LASEK avoids many complications associated to LASIK flap.  It produces less thinning of cornea, hence leaving a stronger cornea; less dry eye as the deeper cornea nerves responsible for the tearing reflex are left untouched and intact. It also avoids buttonhole flap which may damage central vision if a cut is made in flat cornea. Therefore, LASEK eye surgery is a suitable procedure for those who have a thin or too steep cornea, those at risk to get dry eyes syndrome or in other words it is for those who are not ideal for LASIK.

Many people in the world have benefited from LASEK laser eye surgery as it not only produces similar results in vastly improved vision as LASIK but it also offers added safety features. It does hold the promise of enabling you to enjoy life without the restrictions of glasses and contact lenses.

LASEK  Laser Eye Surgery

LASEK Laser Eye Surgery – My Experience

LASEK Laser Eye Surgery

Choosing for laser eye surgery is pretty confusing as I once experienced before. The word ‘surgery’ and ‘laser’ is a bit scary to me, especially when it’s dealing with my precious eyes. Nobody wants to lose their eyesight… it’s one of the five senses in a human being. In my opinion, it’s a sense which will be hardest to survive without. If I lose my hearing, at least I can still read and see where I am going. Those people who wear glasses or contacts will agree with me on this, as we will be termed ‘handicapped’ if we lose our visual aid. Therefore, as anybody else, safety is my priority concern when it’s dealing with my eyesight.

Here’s my experience with lasek eye surgery: