Definition and Purpose

Refractive Corneal Surgery is a fairly new branch of ocular surgery. It aims at the total correction of significant refractive defects. José I. Barraquer coined the term "Refractive Corneal Surgery" in 1949 [Bar49] and in 1983 expressed its aim as the following:

"...,the purpose of Refractive Corneal Surgery is restoring the visual function to ametropes, without the aid of prosthetic devices, since they ---no matter how perfect or well tolerated they become, out of habit or resignation--- continue to represent a handicap (when not a risk) in the performance of the functions proper to a normal life." [Nor89p.177]

In 1967 [Bar67] he admitted that its employment at that time was limited to the prevention only of ametropias which had resulted from pathological or surgical processes, and the correction of those cases of ametropia in which the usual clinical procedures would not lead to a satisfactory result. Since then he has become aware of cases of severe monocular myopia and monocular aphakia, especially in children in which it has been at times impossible to resolve the problem of anisometropia, amblyopia and the subsequent loss of binocular vision by traditional methods.

He suggests that medicine and surgery must be oriented towards the establishment of normal organic functions without resorting to external prosthetic devices. He refers to the hindering effect of these in traditional fields of work, such as agriculture and mining, and also in more recent ones arising from modern scientific and technical development such as space exploration.