Corneal Surgeries

LASIK & PRK

1) LASIK: Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis

In a nutshell, LASIK and PRK turn your cornea into a permanent contact lens. In LASIK, we create a flap in the surface of the cornea and use a laser to reshape the cornea underneath this flap. When finished, the flap is put back into place.
LASIK is preferred in people with thicker corneas with high refractive error and recovery time is faster. It is also less painful as the flap covers the area that was lasered.

2) PRK: Photorefractive Keratectomy

PRK more or less the same as LASIK, but it is is done directly on the surface of the cornea without the creation of this corneal flap.
PRK is preferred in people with thinner corneas or people with active lifestyles as the corneal flap with LASIK can lead to complications later on if it is disturbed
Recovery time and pain with PRK is greater as there is no corneal flap made.

Note

Patients often think any laser procedure done to their eye is LASIK and they are confused by this!
They will often come in for an exam as a new patient listing they has LASIK done, but if was really just an SLT, YLPI, YAG Capsulotomy, or FLACS

PTK (Phototherapeutic Keratectomy)

PTK is similar to a Superficial Keratectomy in that we are removing the corneal epithelium, but with use of a laser instead

We do this for:

Corneal dystrophy
Recurrent corneal erosions
Removing scar tissue on the cornea

Pterygium Surgery

Done by none other than our own Dr. John Hovanesian!

Superficial Keratectomy ("Super K" or "SK")

Removal of the corneal epithelium only
Used to treat recurrent corneal erosions, corneal scars, or other types of surface irregularities

Collagen Crosslinking for Keratoconus

This is done to help prevent progression of Keratoconus

DSEK (Descemet's Stripping Endothelial Keratoplasty)

DMEK (Descemet's Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty)

Radial Keratotomy (RK)

Clinical Pearls

RK is a surgical procedure that is no longer done as there are far better and less invasive options, such as LASIK and PRK
It was done to help correct Myopia by making precise incisions in the cornea, and then letting it heal in a way that would help flatten the cornea and push the focal point more towards the macula
It was discovered when a person with Myopia who wore glasses got into an accident, and had shards of his glasses lodged into his cornea. Upon healing after removal of the glass shards, it was discovered his vision had improved significantly!
It can cause complications years later when considering cataract surgery and you can see this often on some (older) patient's corneas

Corneal Transplant

This is done as a last resort for many corneal conditions, including Keratoconus and HSV Keratitis

Amniotic Membranes (Prokera/CAM 360/Neox FLO)

Amniotic membranes are made of human Placental tissue and they contain stem cells
These membranes are used for a multitude of things, including dry eyes and helping the cornea heal from any type of trauma or erosions

Steve had a Prokera placed in his left eye to help heal his corneal erosions (It did help a lot)

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