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Patients considering LASIK eye surgery may come across medical jargon, such as "blade" and "bladeless" LASIK. To a layman, such terms might appear overwhelming. However, as a patient you must know the difference between the two surgery types, and the rewards and risks associated with each.

Traditional LASIK makes use of a microkeratome to cut a thin hinged flap in the cornea. The flap is then folded back to reveal the stroma - the middle layer of the cornea. A high precision laser, called the excimer laser, is used to reshape the corneal surface so as to correct any refractive error. The flap is then repositioned to act as a natural bandage. Since the microkeratome used to create a flap is in fact a surgical blade, the procedure is also known as blade LASIK.

A more recent innovation, introduced in 1999, makes use of a high energy laser (IntraLase or femtosecond laser) to create a flap during surgery. As opposed to traditional LASIK, IntraLase does not employ a surgical blade, and hence the procedure is often marketed as "bladeless" or "all laser" LASIK. The term itself has raged a debate among eye surgeons, as to whether it should be used in IntraLase advertisements or not. Several surgeons assert that the term "bladeless" implies that traditional LASIK, which makes use of a surgical blade (microkeratome), is a scarier proposition, when in fact it's not.

The creation of the flap is an important part of the laser eye surgery procedure. It's true that flap predictability is better with a laser flap, that is, with bladeless LASIK. Moreover, there is a reduced possibility of flap complications, such as partial flaps, flap dislocation, free flaps etc. However, an expert surgeon wielding a contemporary microkeratome can very well match the finesse of bladeless LASIK. Although the chances are rare, there is an issue of transient light sensitivity as well - a unique risk associated with bladeless LASIK. Moreover, the bladeless LASIK procedure costs an extra $300 per eye, when compared with traditional LASIK.

All said and done, LASIK itself is one of the safest refractive surgery procedure. Whether it's blade or bladeless, it largely depends on the eye surgeon of your choice. If the surgeon has loads of experience carrying out microkeratome procedures, it's better to have it that way. If otherwise, you may go in for the relatively new bladeless LASIK surgery.

Finding a LASIK surgery that you are confident about will be able to give you more information about blade and bladeless LASIK.

Often times you haven't even done anything to get buggered eyes. By that I mean you haven't actually personally damaged them to the point of needing visual aid. If you're like many you were just born with buggered eyes, and have had to deal with the hassles of glasses or contacts for a time that is too long to remember.

Is it worth it? - The hassle. That is the question that you should be asking yourself. Contacts came and made it more convenient, but what now? Eye surgery! Eye surgery has been around for several years now, and it's amazing at how many people are still skeptical about it.

What is Lasik Eye Surgery?

Good Question - Glad you asked. Lasik is an acronym that stands for Laser-assisted In Situ Keratomileusis. It's a procedure in which a laser is used to correct the shape of the eye, an as a result to correct the vision of the patient.

The first form of Lasik surgery was in 1970, when Dr Jose Barraquer, made it possible by developing the first microkeratome. The microkeratome is used to cut thin flaps in the cornea and alter its shape, in a procedure called keratomileusis. Building off the work of DR Barraquer Dr. Lucio Buratto in 1990 & Dr. Ioannis Pallikaris took the technique and made it widely effective and safe.

With the long history that is behind the surgery, there is not a need to be skeptical. I would recommend talking to your eye doctor, to gain more advice on the surgery and to see when and if it's right for you. Good luck, happy sight!

Some people believe that the use of Lasik procedures has only occurred in very recent times. To most people Lasik and its associated technology are still novel concepts. However, Lasik's success is the result of improvements made on prior procedures.
Vision correction surgeries can be traced back over fifty years to when some of the first procedures were carried out. In 1948, Dr. Jose Barraquer developed a technique we would describe as barbaric and unethical by today's health care standards. Dr. Barraquer, who practiced in Bogota, Columbia, would remove and then freeze more than 50% of the patient0s cornea. A lathe would then be used to carefully sculpt the surface of the cornea to increase the quality of vision. The cornea was then sewn back in place once it was redesigned.
The outcomes of this technique, which was known as MKM, or freeze myopic keratomileusis, were extremely variable and thus clinically unreliable. It could also be a very complicated and intricate surgery to perform. The technique seems barbaric, but Lasik's history is dependent upon the knowledge gained from those who came before. Today's Lasik can thank MKM's use of the basic version of microkeratome for advances in the industry.
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