How Are LASIK and Phakic IOL Similar? 🤔⁣ ⁣ Often, patients express some disappointment when we start talking about lens surgery because many of them have laser surgery on their minds. I tell patients what is involved in the surgery and what they can expect during the experience. Rather than emphasizing the differences between laser and lens surgery, I try to emphasize the similarities. Both procedures take about 🕑 10 minutes to perform, are done in the outpatient setting, and done under 💉 local anesthesia. When I emphasize the common points, patients realize that the differences are not so great as they might have expected.⁣