Refractive Surgery

• About the Surgery
• Who is a Candidate for Refractive Surgery
• Additional Information
• Complete List of Surgical Procedures at Kellogg

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About Refractive Surgery
Refractive surgery is an umbrella term for a number of surgical procedures that improve vision by correcting refractive errors. A refractive error means that the shape of your eye does not bend light correctly, resulting in a blurred image.

Clear vision is the result of light rays passing through the cornea, pupil and lens and focusing directly upon the retina. If the cornea is not round, or is too steep or too flat in relation to the length of the eye, light rays focus either in front or behind the retina resulting in refractive errors, such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism.With nearsightedness, for example, the light rays that enter the eye focus in front of the retina. This is due to the eye being too long, or the cornea too steep to allow the light to focus directly on the retina. Traditionally, eyeglasses and contact lenses were used to change this focal point, but now there are other treatment options to correct this condition.

A variety of treatments are available that correct refractive errors by changing the shape of the cornea. Two of these procedures use the excimer laser, one of the most technologically advanced medical procedures available, to correct nearsightedness and other eye conditions. Through a process known as Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK) or Laser Assisted in-Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK), we have the ability to correct mild to high amounts of nearsightedness using laser light energy produced by the excimer laser. Across the world, over 2,000,000 nearsighted people now enjoy clearer vision having undergone laser vision correction.

A new, non-laser surgical procedure to correct mild nearsightedness is now available: Corneal Ring Segments. Corneal rings are surgically placed through a tiny incision that is made on the cornea. Once in place, the two arcs flatten the cornea so that light rays can properly focus on the retina. Since the rings are inserted in the outer edge of the cornea, the center of the cornea remains untouched.

Cornea specialists at the Kellogg Eye Center are studying conductive keratoplasty with the Refractec Corneal shaping System (TM) for the treatment of hyperopia (farsightedness) in clinical trials.