Disposable microkeratome head offers predictability of flap thickness, surgeon says

SAN DIEGO — A disposable microkeratome head is “smoother, faster and easier” than reusable heads for creating LASIK flaps, according to a surgeon speaking here at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting.

Richard A. Norden, MD, FACS, said he used Moria M2 one-use microkeratome heads on 80 eyes of 40 patients undergoing LASIK. Two depths of blade were evaluated — the 130 head for a 160-µm flap and the 90 for a 120-µm flap. Dr. Norden noted that the 90 head is not yet available in the United States. He used the same head for both eyes of each patient.

“In this study, we saw a very small drop-off in … flap depth of just under 7 µm between the two eyes,” Dr. Norden said. This finding convinced him that surgeons can safely use one disposable head on both eyes of one patient before replacing it, he said.

Regarding safety, three eyes had epithelial slides, one eye had an epithelial defect and one eye had flap striae, Dr. Norden said.

“There were no cases of diffuse lamellar keratitis, which may be significant because there’s no sterilization,” he said. “All eyes were 20/30 or better on day 1 postop.”

Dr. Norden said switching from a metal to a plastic blade “was very easy,” and still offered good flap thickness predictability.