Técnicas avanzadas para corregir la miopía, la hipermetropía o el astigmatismo: láser Intralasik y láser Smile

The doctor. Jorge Alió is an internationally renowned ophthalmologist. Highlights in the specialties of cataracts, cornea, refractive surgery, keratoconus, intraocular lenses and glaucoma. He has been named by the British magazine The Ophthalmologist as the tenth most ophthalmologist in the world. He was a pioneer in the introduction of refractive surgery in Spain, in new techniques of corneal transplantation and in keratoconus treatment. The following article explains how to end myopia, farsightedness and astigmatism with laser surgery.

Myopia, farsightedness, and astigmatism can be corrected through precise corneal refractive surgery in an operation lasting a few minutes. These techniques are performed by a laser that modifies the curvature of the cornea permanently, eliminating the refractive defect of the patient, and with it, the need to wear glasses and / or contact lenses. It is a type of intervention that has been going on for more than twenty-five years, with a very high success rate, providing a higher quality of life and vision for many people. But it is important to put yourself in the hands of a specialist corneal ophthalmologist, who has extensive experience and who handles the most advanced techniques, which provide greater precision and safety.

How is the laser surgery intervention?

Laser surgery is a very safe and highly accurate surgery, in addition to being very non invasive: the Intralasik technique (or Intralase) performs a first 100% laser precision corneal cut, totally adapted to each patient, and then applies another laser which modifies the curvature of the cornea. But with the new Relex Smile laser it is possible to treat myopic patients with high gradations that could not be treated with other techniques, or those with very thin corneas, since it performs only a 2 mm incision instead of a corneal flap of so that greater stability is preserved from this part of the eye. It is also recommended for people with professions of risk, athletes.

In principle, a single intervention is sufficient to correct the graduation, but sometimes a second operation may be necessary to eliminate a possible graduation residual. This would pose no risk to the patient, and this would be a necessary fact for the complete visual correction and the definitive elimination of his glasses. It is however very important that the person has stabilized the vision defect.

The intervention takes place in a few minutes, which is a great relief for our patients, who see that when they leave the operating room their vision improves significantly. In addition, the two eyes are operated on in the same surgery, so the patient will only have to undergo surgery once. No hospitalization is necessary, it is performed with topical anesthesia in the form of eye drops, and the person undergoing surgery can resume their daily life in the next 24-48 hours with certain precautions.

What are the possible complications of laser surgery?

In order to know if someone is a good candidate for laser surgery or not, our recommendation is that all patients undergo a complete ophthalmological examination to assess it, which serves to see their suitability and rule out previous pathologies; in the case of not being able to perform this type of treatment, there are other techniques that can solve the problem of graduation, such as the implant of intraocular lenses.

This technique is used for cases in which the graduations are high (myopic high) or when the corneal thickness of the candidate is not indicated to perform the technique by laser surgery.

Intraocular lenses are also a good choice for those in presbyopia or with tired eyesight, since there are multifocal lenses that correct several vision defects at once, such as myopia, presbyopia and also in the case of toric lenses, also astigmatism.

Surgical alternatives to corneal refractive surgery

In order to know if someone is a good candidate for laser surgery or not, our recommendation is that all patients undergo a complete ophthalmological examination to assess it, which serves to see their suitability and rule out previous pathologies; in the case of not being able to perform this type of treatment, there are other techniques that can solve the problem of graduation, such as the implant of intraocular lenses.

This technique is used for cases in which the graduations are high (myopic high) or when the corneal thickness of the candidate is not indicated to perform the technique by laser surgery. Intraocular lenses are also a good choice for those in presbyopia or with tired eyesight, since there are multifocal lenses that correct several vision defects at once, such as myopia , presbyopia and also in the case of toric lenses, also astigmatism.