Surface Ablation Techniques for Myopia – A Review of the Advances Over the Past 25 Years

P hotorefractive keratectomy for correction of myopia was the first excimer laser-based technique to be developed. During the last 25 years, excimer lasers have improved technologically, several variations of the technique have been developed and preand postoperative pharmaceutical therapies have been investigated. This review article summarises these developments and the published meta-analyses on comparison of surface ablation techniques and laser in situ keratomileusis. The main conclusion is that there seem to be no differences between the clinical results obtained with the different variations of surface ablation techniques.