This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Most patients retain light perception during LASIK, study finds

Add topic to email alerts

Receive an email when new articles are posted on

Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on .

Subscribe

Added to email alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

Back to Healio

We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com.

Back to Healio

Most patients retained light perception during the various stages of LASIK, and some patients were frightened by their visual experiences, a study found.

Colin S. H. Tan, MBBS, Mmed(Ophth), MRCSEd, of National Healthcare Group in Singapore, and colleagues interviewed 41 patients who had undergone bilateral LASIK on what they were able to see during the procedure. Surgeons had used a Zyoptix XP microkeratome (Bausch & Lomb) in one eye and IntraLase femtosecond laser in the other.

During the lifting of the flap, use of the excimer laser and replacing of the flap, all patients retained 100% light perception, the authors said. Patients "saw flashes, various colors, movement, the surgeon's hands or fingers, and the surgeon doing the surgery, and there was no difference in these visual experiences between the Zyoptix XP microkeratome and IntraLase groups," the authors said.

During the vacuum suction stage, however, 85.4% of the Zyoptix eyes lost light perception, which was significantly higher than 39% of the IntraLase eyes (P < .001), the authors said. The investigators found similar results for the flap creation stage, during which 90.2% of Zyoptix eyes lost light perception vs. 61% of IntraLase-treated eyes (P < .004).

The authors noted that the loss of light perception is likely due to a suction-induced increase in IOP, resulting in transient vascular occlusion.

"Rotary types of microkeratomes create the greatest pressure on the cornea in the mid position of the translation, and it is possible that this increase of IOP is sufficient to cause temporary loss of light perception," they said.

The authors also said that 19.5% of patients reported being frightened by what they saw intraoperatively. There was no significant difference between the Zyoptix and IntraLase groups, they noted.

"We believe that preoperative counseling has an important role in preparing patients for their visual experiences during LASIK and that it can help to alleviate the fear experienced during LASIK," the authors said.

The study is published in the January issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology.