LASIK Eye Surgery

LASIK (Laser Assisted in-Situ Keratomileusis) vision correction is a popular permanent operation on the cornea of the eyes to correct mild to moderate nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism and presbyopia. An amazing number of people worldwide have spent upward of three thousand dollars per eye on this wildly popular procedure. LASIK surgery is highly commercialized, it is becoming less expensive and more employee insurance programs now cover this procedure (Turner 2). The American Academy of Ophthalmology estimates that more than one million people will undergo LASIK eye surgery this year. Most operations will be successful however, more than fifty thousand patients will encounter complications that range from minor to serious and life altering (Suriano 1).
The first idea of the modern LASIK procedure started about fifty years ago. In 1949, Jose I. Barraquer, M.D., of Bogota, Colombia, the father of lamellar refractive surgery, suggested that operating within the layers of the ...