Although there are several types of surgical techniques being performed today to correct refractive errors, laser refractive correction is fast becoming the most technologically advanced method available, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology in San Francisco.
Doctors say laser surgery allows for an unparalleled degree of precision and predictability.
The Food and Drug Administration first approved the excimer laser in October 1995 for correcting mild to moderate nearsightedness. With that approval, the agency also restricted use of the laser to practitioners trained both in laser refractive surgery and in the calibration and operation of the laser. PRK PRK is an outpatient procedure generally performed with local anesthetic eye drops. This type of refractive surgery gently reshapes the cornea by removing microscopic amounts of tissue from the outer surface with a cool, computer-controlled ultraviolet beam of light. The beam is so precise it can cut notches in a strand of human hair without breaking it, and each pulse can remove 39 millionths of an inch of tissue in 12 billionths of a second.