LASIK Surgery

LASIK eye surgery is a three steps procedure to correct myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. Step one is creating a hinged flap in the cornea - the clear front portion of the eye - and folding it back to reveal the underlying corneal tissue. Step two is reshaping the corneal tissue with excimer laser and the last step (step three) is repositioning the corneal flap.

In conventional LASIK, a microkeratome that contains a disposable surgical blade is used to cut and form the hinged corneal flap. Since sometimes LASIK complications are associated with the abnormal cutting of corneal flap with a microkeratome, IntraLase Corp. (Irvine, CA) has introduced a variation of LASIK called bladeless LASIK.

Bladeless LASIK uses a type of high energy laser called femtosecond (FS) laser or IntraLase instead of microkeratome blade to create the hinged flap in LASIK surgery, while other steps are the same as conventional LASIK procedure.

Bladeless LASIK or IntraLase is claimed to significantly decrease the overall LASIK complication rates. However, LASIK surgery costs more - about $250 to $500 per eye - if you choose the IntraLase method. Usually, you will be given the choice whether you prefer a microkeratome blade or IntraLase in creating corneal flap but sometimes some surgeons only use IntraLase method and may bundle it into the overall LASIK fee.

It is important to know that the IntraLase FS laser is different from the laser used to reshape your corneal tissue. In IntraLase LASIK, the surgeon uses two types of laser in LASIK procedure - the IntraLase FS laser to cut the corneal flap and another laser to remove your corneal tissue. This is why IntraLase is sometimes promoted as bladeless or all-laser LASIK.