Laser or Lasik eye surgery questions

Anybody against people getting laser or lasik eye corrective surgery to correct vision? I been thinking of getting this for myself for years, but always back out for fear of complications. Anybody have complication stories? Maybe they have something new on the market? Thank you in advance for your posts.

Twisted French Frye wrote:
> Anybody against people getting laser or lasik eye corrective surgery to correct vision? I been thinking of getting this for myself for years, but always back out for fear of complications. Anybody have complication stories? Maybe they have something new on the market? Thank you in advance for your posts.

There is a basic fact of life which applies doubly to any cosmetic
surgery - you don't get something for nothing.

You may want to post your question at the alt.lasik-eyes newsgroup.
There is a small, but very vocal, group who had complications and they
will be sure to give you all the horror stories, real and imagined.

You also may want to visit our organization's website. We try to stay
objective about refractive surgery and are neither cheerleaders nor
naysayers.

Remember that the most refractive surgery can provide is the
convenience of a reduced need for corrective lenses. To achieve that
convenience you must accept some risk. Only after a comprehensive
examination from a competent doctor and a full discussion of your
individual circumstances can you determine if the potential risk
outweighs the potential benefit based upon your own needs,
expectations, and values.

Glenn Hagele
Executive Director
USAEyes.org

"Consider and Choose With Confidence"

Email to glenn dot hagele at usaeyes dot org

http://www.USAEyes.org
http://www.ComplicatedEyes.org

I am not a doctor.

Do you have a particular view on contact lenses? Particularly the
day/night ones?

I have a fairly strong prescription, and had real problems with
contacts in the past. But with the new materials used, all I need to do
is take a drop of lubricant each morning, and I'm good for the week.

For me, this affords me more than enough convenience, without the risks
involved in the laser surgery.

I have personally known a few people who have had laser procedures, and
none of them have regrets. But for me, the day/night contact lens
option is more than a fair trade-off: one night a week where I have to
wear glasses (while the lenses are being cleaned) and a drop of
artificial tears to get things lubed up in the morning, and I'm good as
gold, without the risks of complications and the pain.

BD wrote:
> Do you have a particular view on contact lenses? Particularly the
> day/night ones?
>
> I have a fairly strong prescription, and had real problems with
> contacts in the past. But with the new materials used, all I need to do
> is take a drop of lubricant each morning, and I'm good for the week.
>
> For me, this affords me more than enough convenience, without the risks
> involved in the laser surgery.
>
> I have personally known a few people who have had laser procedures, and
> none of them have regrets. But for me, the day/night contact lens
> option is more than a fair trade-off: one night a week where I have to
> wear glasses (while the lenses are being cleaned) and a drop of
> artificial tears to get things lubed up in the morning, and I'm good as
> gold, without the risks of complications and the pain.


I think you're referring to the Ciba Night and Day cl's. This lens, as
well as any contact lens worn on any type of an extended wear basis,
still has a risk factor. I'm just finishing up treating an individual
who did in fact develop a nasty corneal ulcer with the Night and Day
contact lense. So the risk of infection and complications do exist.

There is obviously risk involved with Lasik but careful pre-operative
work-ups, to eliminate those who are not good candidates, is the
key to increase your odds of success. It seems that many of the
patients I see who had less than desirable results were those who
shouldn't have had the procedure done in the first place.

frank

BD wrote:
> Do you have a particular view on contact lenses? Particularly the
> day/night ones?
>
> I have a fairly strong prescription, and had real problems with
> contacts in the past. But with the new materials used, all I need to do
> is take a drop of lubricant each morning, and I'm good for the week.
>
> For me, this affords me more than enough convenience, without the risks
> involved in the laser surgery.
>
> I have personally known a few people who have had laser procedures, and
> none of them have regrets. But for me, the day/night contact lens
> option is more than a fair trade-off: one night a week where I have to
> wear glasses (while the lenses are being cleaned) and a drop of
> artificial tears to get things lubed up in the morning, and I'm good as
> gold, without the risks of complications and the pain.

You are quite correct in concluding that sleeping in silicone-hydrogel
contact lenses presents less probability of long-term visual morbidity
than any type of refractive surgery.

DrG

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:

> I think you're referring to the Ciba Night and Day cl's. This lens, as
> well as any contact lens worn on any type of an extended wear basis,
> still has a risk factor. I'm just finishing up treating an individual
> who did in fact develop a nasty corneal ulcer with the Night and Day
> contact lense. So the risk of infection and complications do exist.

Was this ulcer central, paracentral, or peripheral? Was there any
necrosis involved, and did you culture it? Or, was it a sterile
peripheral infiltrate? Also, did the patient develop halos, diplopia,
glare, or dry eye as a result? Will the patient be able to wear
contact lenses or eyeglasses in the future?

>
> There is obviously risk involved with Lasik but careful pre-operative
> work-ups, to eliminate those who are not good candidates, is the
> key to increase your odds of success. It seems that many of the
> patients I see who had less than desirable results were those who
> shouldn't have had the procedure done in the first place.
>

Of course, hindsight is always 20/20.

DrG

I'm curious - was there something about this person's 'routine' which
made them more susceptible to the problem? Or in other words, can these
ulcers occur in anyone equally with no regard to their behavior or lens
cleaning/disposal schedule?

Dr. Leukoma wrote:
> (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>
> > I think you're referring to the Ciba Night and Day cl's. This lens, as
> > well as any contact lens worn on any type of an extended wear basis,
> > still has a risk factor. I'm just finishing up treating an individual
> > who did in fact develop a nasty corneal ulcer with the Night and Day
> > contact lense. So the risk of infection and complications do exist.
>
> Was this ulcer central, paracentral, or peripheral? Was there any
> necrosis involved, and did you culture it? Or, was it a sterile
> peripheral infiltrate? Also, did the patient develop halos, diplopia,
> glare, or dry eye as a result? Will the patient be able to wear
> contact lenses or eyeglasses in the future?
>

This was an 1.3 mm ulcer(not infiltrate), mid-central, with moderate
surrounding stromal edema along with an anterior chamber response.
She was placed on Zymar q 1 h with tobrex ointment at night.
Last seen,the ulcer was 90% resolved with a taper of her meds.
I'm not sure where you're heading
with your last few questions other than not realizing that
corneal ulcers can indeed be serious.

frank

frank

drfran...@gmail.com wrote:

>
> This was an 1.3 mm ulcer(not infiltrate), mid-central, with moderate
> surrounding stromal edema along with an anterior chamber response.
> She was placed on Zymar q 1 h with tobrex ointment at night.
> Last seen,the ulcer was 90% resolved with a taper of her meds.
> I'm not sure where you're heading
> with your last few questions other than not realizing that
> corneal ulcers can indeed be serious.
>


It's great that your patient is getting better with the meds. Most
ulcerative keratitis patients do. Also, most of them get better
without sequellae. Although ulcers can occur with continuous wear
lenses, the risks of that occurring are 1/500 per year with hydrogels,
and about 1/3000 per year with silicone-hydrogels. About 13% of those
will have visual sequellae. I think that if you crank the numbers, you
will conclude that the visual morbidity of sleeping in contact lenses
is less risky than that of having LASIK.

That's where I was going.

DrG