To fully understand the array of laser vision correction procedures that are performed, it is important to understand that LASIK and PRK are general terms. It’s like saying someone had abdominal surgery- was it for the gallbladder, the appendix, the spleen, or the intestines? LASIK and PRK (LASIK makes a flap to access the stroma while PRK removes the top skin layer to access the stroma) are just terms of how to access the part of the cornea that doesn’t regrow, the stroma, and machine it with a laser so myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), and astigmatism can be eliminated lessening or eliminating the need for spectacle or contact lens correction. Different procedures with totally different quality of vision, different vision and resolution outcomes, on completely different lasers making completely different shapes, can all be grouped under the same LASIK term. In other worlds not all LASIK (or PRK) is the same.

Start with laser systems. In the United States there is no dispute that the Alcon WaveLight EX500 excimer laser system is the best available (along with the FS200 Femtosecond flap making system it comprises the WaveLight Refractive Suite). It is the most flexible, the fastest laser, the most sophisticated and fastest tracking system, ergonomically the most comfortable for the patient and surgeon, and of course the most expensive. The VISX laser system is the second most common, but has not significantly changed in over twenty years and although much less expensive to acquire and use, it simply is nowhere near as sophisticated and flexible as the WaveLight systems.