Laser Eye Surgery (Print Version)

Also called: Also called: Keratectomy, LASIK, LTK, PRK

For many people, laser eye surgery can correct their vision so they no longer need glasses or contact lenses. Laser eye surgery reshapes the cornea, the clear front part of the eye. This changes its focusing power.

There are different types of laser eye surgery. LASIK - laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis – is one of the most common. Many patients who have LASIK end up with 20/20 vision. But, like all medical procedures, it has both risks and benefits. Only your eye doctor can tell if you are a good candidate for laser eye surgery.

Start Here

LASIK(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/lasik/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/lasikspanish/htm/index.htm
LASIK Eye Surgery(Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/LASIK/

Overviews

LASIK Eye Surgery: Alternative to Corrective Lenses(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/lasik-eye-surgery/EY00002/METHOD=print

Rehabilitation/Recovery

Post-Surgical Expectations and Complications(Eye Surgery Education Council) - http://www.eyesurgeryeducation.com/Post_Surgical_Expectations.html

Specific Conditions

First LASIK Device for Monovision(Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/consumer/updates/lasik071207.html
Laser Related Refractive Surgery: PRK, LASEK, Laser Thermal Keratoplasty (LTK)(Eye Surgery Education Council) - http://www.eyesurgeryeducation.com/Laser_Related.html
Wavefront-Guided LASIK(American Academy of Ophthalmology) - http://www.medem.com/medlb/article_detaillb.cfm?article_ID=ZZZ5NVRIREE&sub_cat=0

Related Issues

LASIK Surgery Screening Guidelines for Patients: Eligibility(Eye Surgery Education Council) - http://www.eyesurgeryeducation.com/Eligibility.html
LASIK Surgery: Expectations(Eye Surgery Education Council) - http://www.eyesurgeryeducation.com/Expectations.html
Selecting a Refractive Eye Surgeon(Eye Surgery Education Council) - http://www.eyesurgeryeducation.com/Selecting_Surgeon.html
Tough Questions for Doctors(Eye Surgery Education Council) - http://www.eyesurgeryeducation.com/Surgeon_Questions.html

Pictures & Photographs

LASIK Surgery: Step by Step(Eye Surgery Education Council) - http://www.eyesurgeryeducation.com/Step_by_Step.html

Tutorials

LASIK(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/lasik/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/lasikspanish/htm/index.htm

Anatomy/Physiology

Diagram of the Eye(National Eye Institute) - http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/eyediagram/
Also available in Spanish http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/espanol/diagrama_ojo.asp

Financial Issues

Cost for LASIK Procedures(Eye Surgery Education Council) - http://www.eyesurgeryeducation.com/Cost.html

Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov: Corneal Surgery, Laser(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Corneal+Surgery,+Laser%22
ClinicalTrials.gov: Laser In Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK)(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/intervention=lasik+OR+(laser+keratomileusis)
ClinicalTrials.gov: Photorefractive Keratectomy(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Photorefractive+Keratectomy%22

Journal Articles

References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

Article: A comparison of CustomCornea myopia algorithms for wavefront-guided laser in... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18695100&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Effects of lotrafilcon A and omafilcon A bandage contact lenses... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18655978&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Clinical outcomes of laser in situ keratomileusis using combined topography... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18655973&tool=MedlinePlus
Laser Eye Surgery -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=keratectomy,laser[majr]+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+AND+(jsubsetaim[text]+OR+jsubsetn[text]+OR+jsubsetk[text]+OR+review[pt]+OR+guideline[pt]+OR+clinical+trial[pt]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt])+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus

Dictionaries/Glossaries

Eye Surgery Glossary(Eye Surgery Education Council) - http://www.eyesurgeryeducation.com/Glossary.html
LASIK Eye Surgery Glossary(Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/lasik/glossary.htm

Directories

Eye Health Organizations Database(National Eye Institute) - http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/resourceSearch.asp

Organizations

Eye Surgery Education Council - http://www.eyesurgeryeducation.com/
National Eye Institute - http://www.nei.nih.gov/

You may also be interested in these MedlinePlus related pages:

Refractive Errors - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/refractiveerrors.html
Eyes and Vision - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/eyesandvision.html
Surgery and Rehabilitation - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/surgeryandrehabilitation.html

The primary NIH organization for research on Laser Eye Surgery is the National Eye Institute - http://www.nei.nih.gov/