History of Lasik Surgery – Dr. Kevin Niksarli May 2014

History of Lasik Surgery – Dr. Kevin Niksarli
Lasik Surgery is a type of Refractive Surgery, which is used to correct the vision of your eyes. There are
other types of Refractive Surgery but Lasik Surgery has gained much popularity in the last decade
primarily for its effectiveness and safety features. The name Lasik Surgery is a misnomer because there
is no surgery as such, no bleeding or anesthesia. There are different types of Refractive Surgery that we
have explained below. It will help a common person to understand why Lasik Surgery is much preferred
than other forms of Refractive Surgery.

Radial Keratotomy

Dr. Tsutomu Sato of Japan performed the first experimental Radial Keratotomy in 1950! However his
effort was not successful and the eyesight of his patients worsened after the procedure.

Basically the process involves the flattening the shape of the eye to correct near sightedness by making
a series of incisions in the cornea much akin to spokes in a bicycle wheel. The process was not popular
till a Russian Doctor named Fyodorov who began studying Radial Keratotomy and became a leading
expert in the technique in the 70’s. Dr. Fyodorov perfected a formula for the precise surgical incisions
that made radial keratotomy highly successful. However there were downside of the process and it
depended upon the manual skills of the Doctor. There was a need for better tools and methods.

Introduction of Lasers brought about a revolutionary change in Refractory Surgery. IBM researcher Dr.
Srinivasan first thought of Excimer Laser as a surgical tool in place of a surgeons' knife/scalpel on
biological materials. Lasers were used for different industrial purposes like etching circuits on computer
boards. Dr. Srinivasan introduced it for the first time for medical procedures.

Photorefractive Keratectomy

The advent of laser brought out a new form of Keratectomy known as Photorefractive Keratectomy in
which the Laser replaced the scalpel to make incisions on the Cornea. The process was theorized and
then perfected by Doctor Steven Trokel and in collaboration with Dr. Shrinivasan performed the very
first photorefractive keratectomy operation in Germany. FDA trials on excimer laser with a
photorefractive keratectomy surgery performed by Dr. Marguerite McDonald.