LASIK enhancement for better results

Sunday, March 7th, 2010 at 1:53 pm Post in Vision Surgery

Although the reported satisfactory rate of LASIK surgery receivers reaches as high as 95%, there are still patients who can not achieve crystal-clear, 20/20 vision after only one procedure. Complications and other variables can affect the refractive outcome. In these instances, a LASIK enhancement is needed to get sharper vision.

In detail, there are many factors that affect the LASIK results, including corneal characteristics and health, specific refractive errors, the amount of prescription, the amount and quality of tears, the patient’s age and so on. In fact, younger individuals with slight refractive errors are best candidates for LASIK. In general, LASIK reduces the patient’s relying on eyeglasses or contact lenses. However, it is also important to keep appropriate expectations because there are even disappointing results. While some patients only receive slightly better vision correction from LASIK, a small portion of patients suffer vision decrease.

After a LASIK procedure, the surgeon will monitor the patient’s vision for several weeks. Patients should tell their doctors about any visual discomfort in their daily lives. It is important to keep patient during the visual recovery period because there is possible visual fluctuation. In worse cases, blurred vision may last as long as three months after LASIK, which requires a LASIK enhancement.

Although an enhancement is mostly identical to the original procedure, it is also necessary to conduct a candidate evaluation including corneal thickness. A LASIK enhancement only involves minimal corneal reshaping but uses specialized tools for flap lifting. Excimer laser is also needed during the procedure. Follow-up instructions of a LASIK enhancement are the same as that of a primary LASIK. In most cases, only one enhancement is enough. The cost of a LASIK enhancement varies from one surgeon to the next.

In general, high rate of LASIK enhancement signifies disappointing surgical skills in the surgeon. But exception also exists that some surgeons are more conscious of the possible best outcome even for mild visual problems. In rare cases, surgeons having a high enhancement incidence receive good patient satisfaction because of their experience. Another factor influencing the enhancement rate is extra cost, which may discourage a significant portion of patients. All these aspects make it difficult to figure out an exact percentage of enhancement rates.

In some instances, LASIK enhancement procedures can still improve the outcome of other surgeries such as phakic IOL and refractive lens exchange. Furthermore, PRK can also perform as an enhancement after a cataract surgery.