Lasik surgery is a combination of 2 separate surgeries:-

1. In Columbia Dr. Jose Barraquer developed the first microkeratome (an instrument used to cut a thin flap of the corneal tissue) around 1970.
2. Also in Columbia, the keratomileusis procedure (cutting a thin flap from the cornea) was pioneered and developed in Barraquer Clinic.

By using these two techniques Lasik eye surgery was developed by Dr. Lucio Buratto (from Italy) and Dr. Ioannis Pallikaris (from Greece) in 1990. It became a popular and widely used technique because of the lower frequency of complications compared to the old techniques. In 1991, Dr. Stephen Brint and Dr. Stephen Slade performed it in the United States and in the same year, Dr. Thomas Neuhann and Dr. Tobias Neuhann performed it on German patients using an automated microkeratome.

Nowadays there is new technology being added to Lasik which has made it a simpler procedure with lower risks. For example, surgeons now use the Intralase device instead of a microkeratome.

Intralase

Intralase is a new technology which significantly enhances the safety of using Lasik. Intralase uses infrared laser energy (a special laser) instead of a microkeratome (the cutting tool with a metal blade) to cut a flap from the cornea. Therefore, Intralase technology uses two types of lasers (one to cut the flap, the other to smooth the irregularities in the corneal tissue to obtain the correct focus of light inside the eye and on the retina). This in turn corrects the vision. That is why it is promoted as “bladeless”, and “all laser” Lasik.

The use of Intralase Lasik is considered to be a breakthrough because it minimizes the rare but possible complications caused by the microkeratome For example, it may create uneven flap edges, which could result in abnormal corneal surfaces and vision defects (e.g. irregular astigmatism). Using a metal blade can also result in an incomplete or improperly formed buttonhole flap which can cause vision threatening scars. Thankfully these complications are very rare.

The Intralase laser operates at a very high speed (pulses of one quadrillionth of a second), therefore accomplishing its task without heating the surrounding tissue or having an impact on it. However, some eye surgeons recently reported a postoperative complication – “photophobia” (an unusual light sensitivity). One surgeon reported 20% of patients who experienced this complication. On the other hand, other surgeons assure that this figure is abnormally high. Luckily, this is a temporary condition and can usually be resolved with steroidal treatment (in eye drops) for a few weeks. The complications resulting from defective flaps caused by a microkeratome are far more serious and a threat to restoring permanent vision.

Because of the safety of the Intralase procedure, its usage increases the price of undergoing the Lasik operation, making it an additional cost of about $300 per eye. Because of this patients are often given the choice of having Intralase or the traditional Lasik even though many surgeons prefer to use only Intralase.