Synonyms
Definition
Eye surgery used to correct refractive and eliminate or reduce a patients’ need for wearing eyeglasses or contact lenses.
Basic Characteristics
One must differentiate between laser (flap and surface procedures) and non-laser refractive surgery.
Laser eye surgery can be divided into flap and surface procedures. Flap procedures include automated lamellar keratoplasty (ALK) and laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK).
Surface procedures are Epi-LASIK, laser-assisted subepithelial keratomileusis (LASEK), and photorefractive keratectomy (PRK).
Non-laser refractive surgery includes implantable lenses, intrastromal corneal ring segments (Intacs), conductive keratoplasty (CK), astigmatic keratotomy (AK), radial keratotomy (RK), and limbal relaxing incisions (LRI). RK, AK, and LRI are counted among corneal incision procedures.
Cross-References
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Further Reading
Albert DM, Miller JW, Azar DT (2008) Albert & Jakobiec’s principles & practice of ophthalmology. Saunders, Philadelphia
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this entry
Cite this entry
Ostovic, M., Kohnen, T. (2012). Refractive Surgery. In: Schmidt-Erfurth, U., Kohnen, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Ophthalmology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35951-4_365-4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35951-4_365-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-35951-4
eBook Packages: Springer Reference MedicineReference Module Medicine