Laser surgery

Techniques used include LASIK, which is used to correct near and far-sightedness in vision, and photorefractive keratectomy, a procedure which permanently reshapes the cornea using an excimer laser to remove a small amount of the human tissue.

LASIK, in which a knife is used to cut a flap in the cornea, and a laser is used to reshape the layers underneath, is used to treat refractive error.

In laser thermal keratoplasty, a ring of concentric burns is made in the cornea, which causes its surface to steepen, allowing better near vision.

In SMILE surgery, ZEISS VisuMax femtosecond laser is used to make a small incision and to create a pre-calculated mini lens tissue (or lenticule) inside the cornea.

[17] The CO2 laser is used in oral and dental surgery for virtually all soft-tissue procedures, such as gingivectomies, vestibuloplasties, frenectomies, and operculectomies.

[22] Evidence-based data surrounding the use of lasers in spine surgery is limited and its safety and efficacy were poorly understood as of 2017.

[23][24] In thoracic surgery, surgical laser applications are most often used to remove pulmonary metastases and tumors of different primary localizations.

[25] Other areas of application are surgical sectioning of the parenchyma, anatomic segmental resections, removal of tumors from the thoracic wall[26] and abrasion of the pleura parietalis.

[28] Other advantages of laser surgery compared to conventional methods are that it leads to an improved postoperative lung function and that it gives the additional possibility to histologically analyze the removed material which would otherwise be destroyed through radiation or heat.