What is LASEK?
A modification of Lasik and PRK is LASEK (laser epithelial keratomileusis). It combines many of the benefits of LASIK and PRK and can deliver excellent results in the right patients. Instead of your eye surgeon making a flap with a blade, the top layer of the cornea is briefly treated with alcohol to detach it from the underlying tissue, then it is rolled back. The newly exposed tissue is treated with the same laser used in PRK or LASIK, then the top layer is returned to its original position. Preserving this layer provides better comfort than PRK while avoiding some of the rare complications that can be associated with making the LASIK flap. If for some reason the rolled-back tissue does not go back into place properly, it is removed and the procedure proceeds like PRK. Who is a candidate for LASEK? LASEK may be better for patients who have steep or very thin corneas which make it difficult to make a proper LASIK flap and causes dry eye less frequently than LASIK. On the negative side
LASEK/Laser Sub-Epithelial Keratectomy is a variant of PRK. In LASEK, the surface epithelial layer is loosened with medication, moved to the side, allowing excimer laser treatment of the surface, after which the surface epithelial layer is moved back in position. Potential advantages over PRK include less postoperative pain and haze, but Dr. Rapuano feels that the results of PRK and LASEK are pretty similar.
In LASEK, or laser epithelial keratomileusis, we surgically treat the outermost layer of the cornea to create and move aside a sheet of cells a third the thickness of a LASIK flap (see “The LASIK treatment”). We then apply the laser to reshape the cornea. For nearsightedness we decrease the relative curvature; for farsightedness we increase the relative curvature. At the conclusion of the procedure we replace the sheet of cells and cover the cornea with a transparent “bandage” contact lens to promote healing. LASEK is presently used to treat nearsightedness, nearsightedness plus astigmatism, farsightedness, and farsightedness plus astigmatism. LASEK is reserved for patients who have thin corneas, are at risk of occupational damage to the eye, are reluctant to have a LASIK flap, or have corneal disease that precludes the LASIK procedure.
LASEK, which stands for Laser Assisted Sub-Epithelial Keratomileusis, is the latest technique for performing laser eye surgery. LASEK is suitable for people who can’t have the traditional LASIK surgery because the clear outer lens of their eye, the cornea, is too thin or too flat. It is also recommended for people who shouldn’t have a flap cut into their cornea because of their occupation – such as pilots or athletes. This article is written by Jackie Griffiths, a freelance journalist who writes health, medical, biological, and pharmaceutical articles for national and international journals, newsletters and web sites.
LASEK is a relatively new surgery that utilizes a trephine to create an epithelial flap (as opposed to a deeper stromal flap with LASIK) and an alcohol solution to preserve the epithelial cells. Once the epithelial flap is created and lifted, the treatment proceeds as for traditional PRK, with light smoothing at its conclusion. Then, the epithelial flap is repositioned with a small spatula. LASEK preserves approximately 160 microns more corneal tissue, on average, than a typical LASIK procedure.
