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Bladeless Lasik - iLasik

Detailed comparison to traditional Lasik.


Click to see video of Bladeless Lasik.  
The femtosecond laser creates a series of bubbles within the cornea that when combined make the Lasik flap. Click for video.  
   

Bladeless Lasik, also called "iLASIK or Bladeless Lasik, is exactly like traditional conventional or custom wavefront Lasik, except the corneal flap is created with a femtosecond laser microkeratome rather than a mechanical microkeratome with a metal blade.

Conventional or Wavefront

Bladeless/Bladeless Lasik may be performed with conventional laser ablation or wavefront-guided custom Lasik laser ablation.

Potential Advantage

There are several advantages to Bladeless/Bladeless Lasik that can make Lasik more predictable and safer than traditional Lasik with a mechanical microkeratome, however there are limitations and a unique set of concerns that need to be evaluated.

Advantages include more precise positioning of the flap, more accurate thickness of the flap, more even thickness of the flap throughout, and a lower probability of intraoperative complications such as buttonhole flaps, thin/thick flaps, or epithelial defect. Recent studies have shown Bladeless/Bladeless Lasik to be more favorable than Lasik with a mechanical microkeratome in providing vision with better contrast sensitivity.

Potential Disadvantage

Some patients, but not all, experience a short period of increased corneal edema with Bladeless/Bladeless Lasik. This slight swelling can cause vision to be blurry, but the swelling normally resolves with healing. Occasionally an Bladeless/Bladeless Lasik patient will experience some photosensitivity. All these issues usually resolve during the normal Lasik healing process, however additional eye drop medication may be required.

Occasionally Required

Bladeless/Bladeless Lasik is an option for nearly all who decide to have refractive surgery with a corneal flap, but Bladeless/Bladeless Lasik may be a requirement for individuals with preexisting epithelial defects, large pupils, thin corneas, poor contrast sensitivity, or other physiological reasons that indicate the greater accuracy and safety of Bladeless/Bladeless Lasik is required.

Looking For Best Lasik Surgeon?

If you are ready to choose a doctor to be evaluated for conventional or custom wavefront Lasik, Bladeless Lasik, PRK, or any refractive surgery procedure, we recommend you consider a doctor who has been evaluated and certified by the USAEyes nonprofit organization. Locate a USAEyes Evaluated & Certified Lasik Doctor.

Personalized Answers

If this article did not fully answer your questions, use our free Ask Lasik Expert patient forum.


Recent Femtosecond Laser Medical Journal Articles...

Related Articles

The Correlation Analysis between Corneal Biomechanical Properties and the Surgically Induced Corneal High-Order Aberrations after Small Incision Lenticule Extraction and Femtosecond Laser In Situ Keratomileusis.

J Ophthalmol. 2015;2015:758196

Authors: Wu W, Wang Y

Abstract
Background. To investigate the correlation between corneal biomechanics and the surgically induced corneal high-order aberrations (HOAs) after small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) and femtosecond laser in situ keratomileusis (FS-LASIK). Methods. A total of 150 right myopic eyes that underwent SMILE or FS-LASIK surgery were included in this retrospective study, 75 eyes in each group. The corneal hysteresis (CH) and the corneal resistance factor (CRF) with the corneal HOAs of the anterior, posterior, and total cornea were assessed preoperatively and three months postoperatively. Multivariate linear regression was applied to determine the correlations. Results. The preoperative CRF was significantly correlated with the induced 3rd-6th-order HOAs and spherical aberration of the anterior surface and the total cornea after SMILE and FS-LASIK surgeries (P < 0.05), postoperatively. The CRF was significantly correlated with the induced vertical coma of the anterior and posterior surfaces and the total cornea after SMILE surgery (P < 0.05). There was a significant correlation between the CRF and the induced posterior corneal horizontal coma after FS-LASIK surgery (P = 0.013). Conclusions. The corneal biomechanics affect the surgically induced corneal HOAs after SMILE and FS-LASIK surgery, which may be meaningful for screening the patients preoperatively and optimizing the visual qualities postoperatively.

PMID: 26483975 [PubMed]

 


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