Laser Refractive Surgery in India

Health and Wellness » Eye Care in India»Laser Refractive Surgery in India

Laser refractive surgery is an eye surgery that is used to improve the refractive state of the eye and decrease or eliminate dependency on spectacles or lenses. This surgery is becoming progressively popular as people are turning to alternatives to traditional spectacles and lenses for correcting vision. Laser refractive surgery has successfully been performed on millions of patients worldwide. However, many people are not good candidates for laser refractive surgery. The evolution of laser refractive surgery technology has led to additional method used to treat refractive errors. Nowadays eye patients have a range of vision correction treatments available to them from the insertion of implantable contact lenses to several variations of the laser technique.

Laser refractive surgery:

Laser refractive surgery includes any procedure designed to treat the refractive errors myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness) and astigmatism. There are many types of laser refractive surgery in the market. Laser refractive surgery is a procedure that permanently changes the shape of the cornea, the clear covering of the front of the eye, using an excimer laser.

Structure of cornea :

The transparent cornea has five distinct layers and is about one - half millimetres thick. The most exterior layer of cornea, called epithelium provides the smooth refractive surface and barrier against infection. The role of bowman's membrane and its basement membrane is unclear. The stroma provides structure and accounts for ninety percent of the corneal thickness. Endothelium cells are responsible for the natural corneal dehydration that is important for corneal clarity.

Other types of refractive surgery:

The other refractive surgeries used to reshape the cornea are Radial keratotomy (RK) and photorefractive keratectomy (PRK). In radial keratotomy a very sharp knife is used to cut slits in the cornea to change its shape. Photorefractive keratectomy is the first the first surgical method developed to reshape the cornea using a laser. Later, lasik surgery was developed to reshape cornea. Lasik and photorefractive surgery involve the use of same type of laser. The major difference between the photorefractive and lasik surgery is the way that the stroma, the middle layer of the cornea is exposed before it is vaporized with the laser treatment. In photorefractive surgery, the top layer of the cornea, epithelium is scraped away to expose the stromal layer underneath. In lasik surgery, a flap is cut in the stromal layer and the flap is folded back. Another type refractive surgery is thermokeratoplasty. In this surgery heat is used to reshape the cornea. The source of the heat can be a laser; however this laser is different from the one that is used for lasik and PRK.

Hospitals for laser refractive surgery in India:

1. Max eye care hospital, New Delhi
2. Shroff eye hospital, Mumbai
3. Chaudhary eye centre and laser vision, New Delhi
4. Ojas laser eye surgery centre, Mumbai
5. Laser Rx hi tech eye surgery clinic, Alkapuri

These are some of the names from the long list of renowned Indian hospitals that offers laser refractive surgery. If you need to see an eye doctor for laser refractive surgery then India is probably the best place one can suggest.