Current trends in advanced surface ablation

Abstract

Experience has shown us that virtually all patients who are candidates for laser in situ keratomileusis can be candidates for surface ablation, but patients with specific ocular conditions, such as epithelial basement membrane dystrophy, superficial corneal scars, and previous radial keratotomy will have the best outcomes with surface ablation. Surface ablation and laser in situ keratomileusis are comparable in terms of safety and quality of vision. Wavefront-guided photorefractive keratectomy offers better acuity and less induction of higher order aberrations than wavefront-guided laser in situ keratomileusis.

Comparison of higher-order aberration and optical quality after Epi-LASIK and LASIK for myopia

“…As surface procedures produce no stromal flap, they would theoretically induce fewer higher-order aberrations [10,11]. Wang [12], Lee [13] and Chung [14] have reported the mean changes of higher-order aberrations between LASEK and LASIK in myopia.…”

Four-year to seven-year outcomes of advanced surface ablation with excimer laser for high myopia

“…Technological advancements with larger optical zones, corneal cooling, epithelial repositioning, mitomycin C, and highfrequency flying-spot excimer lasers with eye-trackers have improved outcomes and reduced the risk of complications after surface ablation techniques [3,7,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. The umbrella term for many of these improvements is "advanced surface ablation," which includes photorefractive keratectomy with cooling (cPRK) and laser-assisted subepithelial keratectomy (LASEK), among others [17]. Long-term outcomes of standard surface ablation, such as PRK, are well studied, but only short-term follow-ups have been performed for cPRK and LASEK [10,[18][19][20].…”

Technology vision

“…These procedure are mainly based on nanosecond pulsed lasers but laser refractive surgery is continuing to advance with techniques such as femtosecond laser wavefront guided LASEK and combined femtosecond and excimer laser LASIK techniques at the cutting edge. 7 Other applications of lasers in ophthalmology include cataract extraction and ocular imaging.…”