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Indications, best practices available for pediatric refractive surgery
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PARIS — With more than a decade of experience and results, refractive surgery in pediatric patients has become an established practice, and some reliable conclusions on indications and best treatment choices have been achieved.
Laurence Lesueur, MD, a pediatric ophthalmologist at Toulouse University Hospital, said at the French Society of Ophthalmology meeting that "indications are rare and very specific, aimed at the correction of anisometropic amblyopia and bilateral high ametropia, when spectacles and contact lenses fail to give the amount and quality of vision that allows the child to lead a normal, happy life."
Different techniques can be offered depending on the age of the patient, the amount and type of refractive error, and the effect on the quality of life of the child and the child's family.
From the analysis of her personal results and other studies, Dr. Lesueur said that best results are obtained with phakic posterior chamber implants, such as the Visian ICL (STAAR), in children younger than 10 years treated for unilateral high myopia and moderate amblyopia. For older children with accommodative hyperopic esodeviation, mild amblyogenic spherical anisometropia and cylindrical anisometropia, laser refractive surgery, such as LASIK or PRK, can be used.