LASEK
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, however, many LASEK patients will not fully recover good vision for 1 to 2 weeks while their eye heals, which is similar to the healing time experienced with PRK.
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