Type of Surgery
Information
Last updated: 11/24/2009
Because laser surgery is used to treat so many diverse conditions, the patient should ask the physician for detailed instructions about how to prepare for a specific procedure. Diet, activities, and medications may not have to be limited prior to surgery,...
but some procedures require a physical examination, a medical history, and conversation with the patient that:
- enables the doctor to evaluate the patient's general health and current medical status
- provides the doctor with information about how the patient has responded to other illnesses, hospital stays, and diagnostic or therapeutic procedures
- clarifies what the patient expects the outcome of the procedure to be
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This narrated animation describes the function of the major structures of the eye, namely the pupil, iris, lens, cornea, and retina.
Cosmetic laser surgery in progress. The wavelengths of the laser's light can be matched to a specific target, enabling the physician to destroy the capillaries near the skin's surface without damaging the surrounding tissue. (Photograph by Will & Deni McIntyre, Photo Researchers, Inc. Reproduced by permission.)
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Other Information
Laser surgery is surgery using a laser to cut tissue instead of a scalpel. Examples include the use of a laser scalpel in otherwise conventional surgery, and soft tissue laser surgery, in which the laser beam vaporizes soft tissue with high water content. Laser resurfacing is a technique in which molecular bonds of a material are dissolved by a laser.
Laser surgery is commonly used on the eye. Techniques used include LASIK, which is used to correct near- and far-sightedness in vision, and photorefractive keratectomy, a procedure which permanently reshapes the cornea using an excimer laser to remove a small amount of tissue.
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