Oklahoma City, Oklahoma—

ClearSight, a vision correction clinic based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, recently wrote a blog post titled “How does corneal thickness affect the outcome of LASIK?The article points out that a patient’s corneal thickness can significantly affect the results of LASIK surgery. Therefore, although most people are candidates for LASIK, not everyone will qualify for LASIK due to corneal thickness requirements. The article also discusses other vision correction options for patients whose cornea is too thin for the procedure.

Laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) is the most popular vision correction procedure in the United States because it can be used to correct long-sightedness (hyperopia), near-sightedness (myopia), and astigmatism (an irregular shape of the eye). For many people it is an excellent alternative to glasses or contact lenses. In this procedure, the vision correction surgeon uses advanced laser technology to reshape the cornea to correct the patient’s vision. In order to perform LASIK safely, the thickness of the cornea in LASIK is crucial. Because in order to be able to reshape the cornea with an excimer laser, a tiny flap of the cornea must be produced with a femtosecond laser. It is this modified form of the cornea that allows the image to be better focused on the retina. During the procedure, a small amount of corneal tissue must be removed when shaping the flap. If the cornea is too thin from the start, this can lead to a cornea that is too thin and thus to visual disturbances for the patient. In such cases where the cornea is too thin, LASIK can do more harm than good.

Therefore, before recommending LASIK, your LASIK surgeon will first perform an exam that includes a corneal pachymetry test to measure the thickness of the cornea. Normal corneal thickness is approximately 555 microns and the ideal pre-procedure thickness is believed to be 450 to…