“Why is LASIK performed awake?”
I am a 27 year old female. I want to know why is LASIK performed awake?
9 Answers
The patient needs to be awake to follow the instruction by the doctor as well as the ability to set up the eye tracker for the laser to work.
1. Most times LASIK is performed in an outpatient clinic setting or even an office setting..
2. A short term relaxant might be provided.
3. However, a facility must have a license to provide anesthesia as well as a MD or Nurse Practitioner on-board if sedation is given.
2. A short term relaxant might be provided.
3. However, a facility must have a license to provide anesthesia as well as a MD or Nurse Practitioner on-board if sedation is given.
Because local anesthetic works great and there are additional risks to putting someone to sleep.
Because it’s safe and easily acceptable
There is no need to add an anesthetic risk when typically people are very comfortable during the procedure with local anesthesia.
LASIK is performed awake to remove the risk of sedation and to allow the patient to fixate which ensures the treatment is centered. The procedure is fast, most laser treatments take only a few minutes and they do not hurt. So putting you to sleep increases the risk and does not improve results.
The main reason Lasik is done with the patient awake is because the patient is asked to focus on lights and look in different directions to make the procedure successful. Also, the Lasik procedure usually requires about 10+ minutes to complete each eye, general anesthesia is associated with increased risks and costs, and topical numbing drops plus oral anti-anxiety medications are sufficient for this remarkably pain-free Lasik surgery.
The LASER that performs the operation is working at the micron level and it has to track your eye precisely and it has to line up with the circle that is your cornea. When you are awake you help us do these things. When you are asleep your eye rolls up into the back of your head and it rotates, so if we tried LASIK with you asleep the LASER could not track your eye and the correction would not be on axis so it would not fully correct your glasses prescription.
John J. Whitehead MD
John J. Whitehead MD
To be able to look at the fixating light.
