Saturday, January 28, 2012

Phakic IOLs, An Alternative For Patients Not Suitable For Laser Vision Correction

By Dr James Genge


LASIK is a safe and accurate method of achieving freedom from eyeglasses or contact lenses. There tend to be however a subset of individuals who are unsuitable for laser eye surgery. In general, a lot of these patients are either too shortsighted (myopic) and fall outside the solution possible with laser, possess overly thin corneas, or have corneas that are shaped atypically. Patients' eyesight can sometimes get worse if treated with LASIK in these circumstances and conscientious pre-operative testing detects them.

In instances where the patient has too high a level of myopia (shortsightedness) but still have a typical corneal shape, the most appropriate treatment is the implantation of a Cachet lens, or a Phakic Intra-ocular Lens. This process only takes 10 minutes long, is pain free and the patient can see clearly the day after. It has the capability to fix even the most excessive myopia completely. This lens' safety and efficacy has been followed up on for over 10 years, reflecting its terrific long-term stability and safety. The lens, however, is unable to correct for astigmatism, for that reason some patients have a 'bioptics' treatment in which fine-tuning of the patient's eyesight is achieved with the help of a tiny laser touch-up.

In the event the individual's cornea is abnormal or the individual has extensive astigmatism, the most suited choice of procedure is an ICL (Intra-ocular Contact Lens) implantation. An ICL can correct for astigmatism and also either myopia (shortsighted) or hyperopia (longsighted). A recently available study researched quality of vision in high myopia (over -8 diopters) and observed it was superior in patients who had an ICL implantation in comparison to Laser eye surgery.

With the Intra-ocular Contact Lens, over 95% of patients are able to see at the vision standard necessary for driving or even better, and simple and easy, fast and painless enhancement procedures can be performed for many patients who are'nt initially at this standard. There tends to be around a 1.7% chance of a cataract forming, which in these circumstances is a quick correction nevertheless, by carrying out a cataract extraction / Intra-ocular Lens Implantation. This cataract / lens implantation is usually the only viable substitute to an ICL regardless.

This thrilling cutting edge technology of Phakic IOL Implantation is an exciting improvement, providing independence from eyeglasses and contact lenses in men and women who would by no means be able to acquire this otherwise, in a safe, brief and painless procedure with visual recovery inside of a day.




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