Limbal relaxing incisions (LRI) are a refractive surgical procedure to correct minor astigmatism in the eye.
[1] Because the incisions are outside of the field of view, they do not cause glare and other visual effects that result from other corneal surgeries like radial keratotomy.
[1] LRI have become the most common technique to correct astigmatism as part of cataract surgery.
[1] They are simpler and less expensive than laser surgery such as LASIK or photorefractive keratectomy and avoid the precise placement requirements of toric IOLs.
[citation needed] LRIs have a coupling ratio of close to 1:1, meaning that the amount of flattening induced in the incised meridian as balanced by steepening 90° away, so negligible change in sphero-equivalent occurs, and no adjustment of IOL power is required.