Refractive eye surgery is any eye surgery used to improve the refractive state of the eye and decrease dependency on glasses or contact lenses. This can include various methods of surgical remodelling of the cornea or cataract surgery. The most common methods today use excimer lasers to reshape curvature of the cornea. Successful refractive eye surgery can help to reduce common vision disorders such as myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism.

According to surveys of members of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, approximately 948,266 refractive surgery procedures were performed in the United States during 2004 and 928,737 in 2005.