Forefront Refractive Surgery Course Overview

The aim of this course is to provide corneal refractive surgeons who are interested in starting or are already performing LASIK, PRESBYOND® Laser Blended Vision and small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) with a detailed description of all aspects of the three procedures.

The focus of the course will be on practical details and surgical pearls set against the backdrop of our experience of over 30,000 LASIK, 12,000 PRESBYOND and 10,000 SMILE procedures and research. Essentially, we consider this to be a surgical video-fellowship that enables the attendee to learn from complications as well as successes. Each aspect of the course is taught in granular detail so that the attendee will feel very well equipped to make improvements to their current practice or starting to perform LASIK, PRESBYOND and SMILE with a wide knowledge base to reduce the learning curve.

To read more about the previous Forefront of Refractive surgery courses on SMILE, PRESBYOND and LASIK click here.

Accreditation

The Forefront Refractive Surgery Course: LASIK, Presbyopia Correction & SMILE, Sao Paolo, Brazil, 16-18 August 2025 is under review for accreditation by the European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (EACCME®). Information regarding points allocation will be available soon.

Faculty

Course Outline

Saturday August 16, 2025, 8am-7pm: Expert considerations on LASIK and surface procedures (Module 1)

1. The importance of standardization
2. Patient and laser preparation, hypnothesis
3. LASIK flap creation
4. Surgical technique for a routine LASIK procedure
5. Prevention and management of microfolds
6. Management of epithelial ingrowth
7. Summary of intraoperative complications
8. Summary of postoperative complications
9. Routine retreatment options after LASIK
10. Surface ablation procedures

Sunday August 17 2025, 8:30am-7pm: Treatment of presbyopia in the absence of cataract (Module 2)

1. Concept and mechanism of PRESBYOND® Laser Blended Vision
2. Review and comparison of available treatment options for presbyopia
3. Manifest refraction and binocular balance protocol
4. Modified binocular vision tolerance testing protocol
5. Postoperative management, counselling, and adaptation
6. Lifetime corneal retreatment planning and retreatment technique
7. Considerations for cataract surgery maximising spectacle independence by EDoF

Monday August 18, 2025, 9am-7pm: The surgeon’s guide to SMILE (Module 3)

1. Treatment planning and parameter selection for SMILE
2. Docking, centration and cyclotorsion control
3. Surgical technique for a routine SMILE procedure
4. Energy and spot spacing settings
5. Suction stability management (suction loss and eye movements)
6. Management of false planes
7. Management of intraoperative complications
8. Management of postoperative complications
9. Routine retreatment options after SMILE

Handout Including

1. PDFs of all lectures
2. Book chapters, peer-viewed publications, and ophthalmic press articles
3. Other resources including protocols and calculators

In-Person 3-day Course, August 2025 (live in Sao Paulo, Brazil):

• Ophthalmologist $850 USD (675 GBP)
• Trainee ophthalmologist $350 USD (275 GBP)

Members of the Refractive Surgery Alliance (RSA) receive a 10% discount.

Repeat attendees receive a 50% discount.

Trainee ophthalmologists receive a 60% discount.

Feedback:

We are privileged to say that we often receive feedback that this was “the best course I have ever attended in my career.” For a previous course held in June 2020, 85% of delegates rated the course content as excellent: