The procedure is identical to cataract surgery, which is supposedly the most frequently performed surgery, and replaces the natural lens with a plastic one. Because a plastic lens is rigid there is no ability to change its focal length (accommodation), but natural lenses lose this ability around age 40 so this would only be a loss for a youngster. There are lenses which attempt to accommodate by having springs around the outside, so that they can be moved slightly forwards and backwards by the ciliary muscle, but these seem to give variable results and (I think) are not permitted for pilots - it's a similar story for multi-focal lenses. It's also possible to have one eye set-up for distance and one for reading ("mono vision"), but not for pilots.
One benefit of CLE is that you won't get cataracts!
I had a gap between the two operations and was surprised at how bright everything looked with the new lens, and also how the natural lens gave everything a slight yellow tinge compared to the plastic lens. If I was doing it again I think I would opt for a slight over-correction in one eye (but less than max permissible for aircrew) to slightly improve near vision.
There's loads of info on the web.
HFD