Lasik MD
Your Guide to LASIK Eye Surgery
Procedures
Comparison Matrix
| Flap Procedures | Flapless Procedures |
| LASIK IntraLASIK | PRK LASEK Epi-LASIK |
Within each category, the flap and flapless procedures are very similar in terms of speed of recovery, comfort level and overall risk profile. However, the two categories differ substantially when compared to each other.
For the vast majority of patients, most surgeons would likely agree that a flapless procedure is the safest and most effective option. Indeed, the advantages of flapless surgery are numerous:
No flap complications
No concerns over trauma
Preservation of corneal thickness
Preservation of future options
Less dry eye
Slightly better visual outcomes
However, despite the aforementioned advantages, flapless procedures are considerably less popular than flap procedures. The reason lies in their disadvantages:
Greater discomfort
Prolonged recovery of vision
Repeat inconvenience on retreatment
Haze
For a typical patient, the pros and cons of flap versus flapless procedures include:
Feature | Procedure | |
| Flap | Flapless | |
| Flap complications | Rare, but possible | None |
| Postoperative discomfort | Minimal | More significant |
| Duration of postoperative discomfort | A few hours | 3 to 5 days |
| Time until vision clears | 1 day | 2 to 6 weeks |
| Recovery time after retreatments | Again quick | Again prolonged |
| Future eye trauma concern level | Some/mild | None |
| Preservation of future options | Usually good | Sometimes better |
| Both eyes treated at once | Yes | Yes |
| Haze concerns | Negligible | Varies low to high |
| Dry eye | Slightly More | Slightly Less |
| Quality of vision | Excellent | A tiny bit better |