Radial keratotomy

Radial keratotomy (RK) is a refractive surgical procedureto correct myopia.

Discovery

The procedure was discovered by accident by Dr. Svyatoslav Fyodorovwho removed glass from the eye of one of his patients who had been in an accident. A boy, who wore eyeglasses, fell off his bicycle and his glasses shattered on impact, with glass particles lodging in his eyes. A procedure was performed consisting of making numerous radial incisions which extended from the pupilto the periphery of the corneain a pattern like the spokes of a wheel. After the glass was removed (by this method) and the cornea healed, he found that the patient's eyesight was significantly improved.

Procedure detail

In radial keratotomy (RK), incisionsare made with a precisioncalibrateddiamondknife. The incisions must be quite deep to cause central cornealflattening, and the procedure is not as precise as LASIKand PRK. Few surgeons now perform RK because it is less predictable.

Arcuate keratotomyis still popular to correct astigmatism. It is also done with a diamond knife but in these cases, cuts are done parallel to the edge of the cornea.

References

• Radial Keratotomy: An Explanation of the Procedure

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It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radial+keratotomy Wikipedia article Radial keratotomy.