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LASIK still most common refractive surgical procedure, survey finds
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NEW ORLEANS — For treating patients with myopia, LASIK remains the procedure of choice for surgeons, said Richard Duffey, MD. Phakic IOLs are becoming more common as a treatment choice for patients with high myopia, he said, and surgeons are beginning to employ refractive lens exchange more often for those with high hyperopia.
Dr. Duffey presented the “hot off the presses” results of the 2004 refractive surgery survey of members of the International Society of Refractive Surgery of the American Academy of Ophthalmology during the refractive surgery subspecialty day of the AAO meeting here.
Of the 184 respondents to the survey, 90% to 100% said they perform LASIK bilaterally.
“What I found interesting is that 8% of respondents found bilateral phakic IOL implantation acceptable,” Dr. Duffey said.
Scleral expansion is “a fading procedure” for correction of presbyopia, he said.
As in previous years, the Bausch & Lomb Hansatome was the microkeratome of choice for respondents. This year it was followed by the IntraLase FS laser keratome and the Moria M2, Dr. Duffey said.
“The accommodating IOL is showing a 14% growth rate,” he said.
The Visx platform was the most commonly used wavefront system among respondents, Dr. Duffey said. The Visx platform was used at about a two-to-one ratio over others, he said.
The survey also found that “90% of physicians are offering wavefront services” to patients, he said.
Comanagement “has seen a big drop-off” with about half as many respondents employing it this year as in 2002, Dr. Duffey said.
He said the survey showed that LASIK remains the most common procedure for patients with refractive errors between –8D and +3D. The physicians offering wavefront customization are charging about $400 more per procedure than for standard LASIK.
On the down side, he noted, 56% of respondents reported having at least one case of post-LASIK ectasia. On the upside, “LASIK has a 7% [market] penetration rate, yet 29% of [the respondents] have had the procedure,” he said.
Dr. Duffey said full results of the survey are available at www.duffeylaser.com.