Bellevue LASIK & Cornea Blog | Dr. Leavitt and Dr. Farag

For years, patients have come into our clinic requesting or asking about LASIK surgery. The procedure has become so popular, in fact, that many even understand how LASIK is generally conducted. (The surgeon creates and lifts a thin flap in the cornea, allowing him or her to reshape corneal tissue using a laser, resulting in greater focusing power.) Increasingly, however, SBK, or sub-Bowman's keratomileusis, is emerging as a tempting alternative to traditional LASIK surgery.

The biggest difference between SBK and LASIK is in the size of the flap. In SBK, the surgeon uses something called a femtosecond laser to create a thinner, smaller flap. This flap reportedly reduces the change for such complications as dry eye in patients after the surgery.

SBK has steadily increased in popularity, to the point where some estimate that nearly half of all refractive surgeries in the United States are now SBK procedures. At the same time, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery has reported that the ophthalmologists are showing increasing preference for the femtosecond lasers used in SBK procedures.

If you live in the Seattle area and would like to learn more about LASIK and SBK, please contact the licensed ophthalmologists at the Bellevue LASIK & Cornea Center today.