Artificial implants better than Laser Surgery

The UK's Guardian reported that, according to research published in the May issue of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, artificial lenses implanted inside the eye may be safer than laser surgery when it comes to improving short sightedness.

After performing a literature review of studies involving laser surgery or implantation of phakic intraocular lenses (IOLs) for the treatment of myopia, researchers from the Moorfields Eye Hospital in London found that both operations worked equally well to improve people's vision. The proportion of people who had 20/20 vision without wearing glasses, one year after surgery, was the same.




Implantation of phakic IOLs involves the insertion of a thin plastic lens inside the eye, either behind the pupil or in front of the iris, as opposed to laser surgery in which part of the cornea is cut away. Both operations work in the same way, however, changing how light enters the eye, bringing images into focus in the right place. The review examined the results from three trials, involving 132 patients, comparing the two types of operations.

MedPage Today reported, Safety, expressed in terms of loss of lines from pretreatment, best-corrected visual acuity, showed statistically significant differences in favor of IOLs for two of four outcomes. The review's authors suggested that phakic IOLs are safer than excimer laser surgical correction for moderate to high myopia in the range of -6.0 to -20.0 diopters [D], and phakic IOLs are preferred by patients, They added, While phakic IOLs might be accepted clinical practice for higher levels of myopia (greater than or equal to 7.0 D of myopic spherical equivalent with or without astigmatism), it may be worth considering phakic IOL treatment over excimer laser correction for more moderate levels of myopia.

Posted in: Astigmatism, Health, Intraocular lens, Myopia, Ophthalmology, Surgery