U.S. Navy Offers Intralase No-Blade Lasik for Servicemen

The U.S. Navy recently began to pay Lasik surgery costs for serviceman who use no-blade Lasik eye surgeons. Dr. Dello Russo, one of the pioneers who introduced this method, celebrates the endorsement and explains the Navy's choice.

Dello Russo comments on the most recent endorsement of the no-blade (Intralase) Lasik he introduced over five years ago to make Lasik surgery safer and more accurate. The Intralase laser replaces a metallic blade that was previously used to perform the first step of Lasik surgeries.

"The blade had been associated with the most significant problems that we used to have with Lasik. When I introduced the Intralase laser in 2002 I experienced a dramatic improvement in Lasik's safety as well as its predictability," says Dello Russo. "The no-blade method was met with much resistance by blade Lasik surgeons for a couple of years but has now become the new standard of care."

The most recent example of the acceptance of Intralase was introduced this week, when the U.S. military announced it will pay Lasik surgery costs for servicemen who elect to have the surgery. The military had been reluctant to approve the traditional method in which Lasik is performed using a blade. The new announcement, which was published in the last issue of NavyTimes, explains that Lasik surgeries will be granted only if they are performed using the no-blade Intralase method.