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Perfume deteriorates LASIK beam over time, study finds
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LOS ANGELES — Patients who wear perfume while undergoing LASIK may cause a deterioration in laser beam power over time, a study here has found.
Authors suggest surgeons advise patients and staff to avoid wearing perfume or hairspray on the day of surgery to avoid potential laser problems.
Researchers with the Jules Stein Eye Institute measured the power delivery of an Apex Plus (Summit Technologies) excimer laser before, during and after exposure to vapors from three different types of perfume, hair spray, an oil-based paint and a water-based paint. Multiple trials were run with each compound. The change in laser energy over time was examined to determine if any of the compounds caused degradation of the laser optics.
Volatile compounds in the operating suite can affect laser performance in two ways, the authors wrote in the September/October issue of Journal of Refractive Surgery. They can either absorb or block part of the laser’s beam, or may react with the laser’s optics.
Initial results from the study showed that paints, hairspray and perfumes appeared not to directly absorb laser power. They also do not reduce the power reaching the cornea during a single treatment session. When the three perfumes were tested, however, laser power declined almost monotonically throughout the trials, suggesting some longer term degradation of the optical elements of the laser caused by the perfume throughout the day. The decline in power was statistically significant, the authors noted.
“The power did not decline in the presence of perfume and then rise again after the perfume dissipated as it would have had the perfume itself absorbed laser energy. Rather, the power decline was so gradual that it was statistically insignificant over any trial, but cumulatively significant,” they added.
The authors do state, however, that the trials were conducted with perfume concentrations at levels close to what someone would have after initial application. Hairspray may be safely worn, and laser treatments can be performed safely as soon as 18 hours after painting.