LASIK Eye Surgery – Serving DC, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Maryland, and the Northern Virginia Area

With over 10 years of experience in LASIK eye surgery, Thomas E. Clinch, M.D., and Paul C. Kang, M.D. are at the forefront of laser technology. Both doctors participated in the clinical trials that led up to the FDA approval of LASIK and PRK surgery; since then, they have performed over 20,000 LASIK eye surgery procedures. Drs. Clinch and Kang are proud to offer LASIK eye surgery using IntraLase® to patients in Bethesda and across Maryland and Virginia.

Our doctors are committed to patient education, and are always willing to address your questions and concerns. Because we provide a wide range of eye surgeries and non-surgical treatments, you will always receive a balanced perspective on the benefits and drawbacks of each. Whether you are interested in contacts, glasses, IOLs, PRK, or LASIK eye surgery, Drs. Clinch and Kang will help you on the path to clearer, sharper vision.

• Overview of LASIK eye surgery
• LASIK History
• LASIK Today
• Preparing for LASIK Eye Surgery
• The LASIK Eye Surgery Procedure
  • IntraLase®
  • CustomVue™
• LASIK and PRK Compared

Overview of LASIK Eye Surgery

LASIK eye surgery is an FDA-approved, comfortable and safe vision correction procedure that only takes a few minutes per eye. Although each person is unique, most patients recover very quickly and are able to return to work the next day. New technologies such as the IntraLase®l and CustomVue™ lasers have now made LASIK safer and more convenient than ever. Read on to learn more about LASIK eye surgery and the many benefits it offers.

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LASIK History

Many people don’t realize that the technology behind LASIK eye surgery is actually the result of IBM research. While working to improve semiconductor capacity, IBM researcher Rangaswamy Srinivasan discovered that an ultraviolet excimer laser was exceptionally well-suited to reshaping living tissue with no damage to surrounding area. In 1983, Srinivasan teamed up with an ophthalmic surgeon to develop a laser technique that could reshape the cornea.

The FDA first began testing the excimer laser in the late 1980s. The first incarnation of laser eye surgery was PRK, in which the lasers were only used on the surface of the eye. In later clinical trials, the laser treatment was placed under the corneal flap, resulting in a more speedy recovery and less discomfort.

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LASIK Today

LASIK, which stands for Laser In Situ Keratomileusis, is currently the most frequently-performed vision correction surgery in the United States. Because of its quick recovery time, excellent safety record, and immediate results, LASIK eye surgery has gained esteem among patients and eye care professionals alike. Innovations such as the Intralase® and CustomVue™ lasers have made the procedure even more convenient, and new research is constantly being conducted to provide patients with the safest, fastest, and most effective care possible.

Offering both CustomVue™ and Intralase®, our LASIK eye surgery center serves patients in Bethesda and all of Maryland and Virginia. Because many of our surgeons have had LASIK performed on their own eyes, they have a unique perspective on the patient experience. Although our patients give us helpful feedback, our doctors can also empathize first-hand with their patients’ concerns.

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Preparing For LASIK Eye Surgery

Eye Doctors of Washington offers free consultations to patients who are interested in LASIK eye surgery. To determine if you are a candidate for LASIK or another vision correction procedure, you will meet with Dr. Clinch or Dr. Kang for an in-depth, hour-long evaluation. We have two LASIK eye surgery centers, one in Chevy Chase, Maryland (accessible to Bethesda and Virginia) and one in Washington, DC.

If our doctors determine that you are a good candidate for LASIK eye surgery, you will be scheduled for a preoperative exam. During this exam, we will dilate your pupils and perform several tests to determine the best treatment plan for you. To be sure that your cornea is well-suited for LASIK eye surgery, we perform analysis using the Oculus Pentacam. This innovative corneal analysis system is the most advanced available.

Please note that if you currently wear contacts, you will need to refrain from wearing your lenses for one to three weeks prior to your exam as follows:

• Soft lenses - 1 week before your exam
• Toric lenses - 2 weeks before your exam
• Hard or gas permeable lenses – 3 weeks for every decade of wear

Once your preoperative exam is complete, you can schedule your LASIK eye surgery at our Maryland office as soon as the next week! We ask that you arrive half an hour prior to your appointment time and expect to be at our office for approximately an hour and a half.

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LASIK Eye Surgery – The Procedure

When you arrive for LASIK eye surgery, you will be escorted into an exam room, where a technician will review the procedure and give you postoperative instructions. If you wish, we will dispense Valium at this time to help reduce any anxiety you have about the procedure. Your technician will then clean your eyelids and dispense a series of special eye drops to prepare for surgery.

Next, you will be brought in to the laser suite, where friends and family (with your permission) can observe through the window. Your technician will help you become comfortable in a reclining surgical chair.

Finally, your surgeon will be ready to perform the LASIK procedure, which involves two steps: the creation of the corneal flap using IntraLase®, and reshaping the cornea using CustomVue™ technology.

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IntraLase®

At Eye Doctors of Washington, we use the IntraLase® femtosecond laser to create a corneal flap, the first step in LASIK eye surgery. Using a beam of light, the IntraLase® laser gently places thousand of tiny bubbles in the central layer of the cornea. The bubbles then expand, creating a gap between the corneal flap and the remaining portion of the cornea. Once this gap is created, your surgeon can simply lift the flap without using a blade.

When first learning about LASIK eye surgery, many of our Maryland and Virginia patients find comfort in the fact that our methods are blade-free. Our surgeons also prefer IntraLase® because it allows for a greater amount of precision than ever before. IntraLase® creates a precise flap of a specific size and thickness. Because the corneal flap is created with bubbles instead of a blade, the risk of forming an irregular flap is extremely small.

With Intralase®, patients have the highest possible chance of achieving perfect or near-perfect vision. In fact, comparative studies of LASIK eye surgery methods, including a study conducted by the U.S. Navy on its fighter pilots, have shown that patients who underwent surgery with Intralase® see better than patients who used previous methods.

 

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CustomVue™

During your preoperative exam, one of our technicians will use Wavescan™ technology to take a detailed look at your cornea and map out its unique characteristics. This method is 25 times more precise than the method used to determine glasses prescriptions. In fact, the map obtained with Wavescan™ technology is so detailed, it has been compared to a fingerprint of the cornea.

When you arrive for LASIK eye surgery, the data we have obtained with the Wavescan™ is programmed into the VISX CustomVue™ Wavefront laser. You will look into a red light while the wavefront laser tracks your eyes’ movements at a rate of 220 tracks per second. To prevent inaccuracies, the laser will automatically shut off anytime your eyes move out of range, and will resume where it left off once your eyes are in range again. To ensure that you do not blink during the procedure, we have a special instrument that keeps your eyes open for you. Generally, the total time that the laser is in contact with your eye is about 30 to 60 seconds.

Once your LASIK eye surgery procedure is finished, your surgeon will wait for several minutes to ensure that the corneal flap is securely in place. Once the flap is in the correct position, you will be able to blink normally. Finally, you will be escorted from the laser suite and given a final exam by your surgeon.

You will then be free to go home. It is important that you have a friend or family member to escort you, since your eyes may be blurry and you may be slightly drowsy from the Valium. Your surgeon will recommend that you rest, keep you eyes closed for several hours, and use your post-operative drops to aid in healing. See our post operative LASIK instructions for more information.

Follow-up: your surgeon will check on your eyes the day after LASIK eye surgery as well as at intervals of 1-2 weeks, one month, and three months. After that, you will be advised to return for yearly exams.

 

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LASIK and PRK Compared

Generally, most people who are considering LASIK eye surgery are excellent candidates. However, some patients may need to consider alternative methods of laser vision correction due to a specific condition, such as dry eyes, thin corneas, or mild keratoconus. If you have any of these conditions, or are in the military, PRK may be a better choice.

Approved in 1995 to treat nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism, PRK is a painless procedure that uses CustomVue™ technology to reshape the cornea, much like LASIK eye surgery. However, with PRK, only the outer cells of the cornea are removed instead of the entire corneal flap.

If you are interested in PRK or LASIK eye surgery using IntraLase® technology, contact Eye Doctors of Washington, serving the Bethesda, Maryland and Northern Virginia areas.

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