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Speaker offers pearls for reducing risk of post-LASIK ectasia
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SAN FRANCISCO — Careful preoperative screening and intraoperative pachymetry may reduce the risk of surgically induced ectasia after LASIK and other excimer laser procedures, according to a speaker here.
For surgeons performing LASIK on patients with no documented risk factors for developing ectasia, thinner flaps with inverted side-cuts created with the IntraLase iFS femtosecond laser (Abbott Medical Optics), which my assist in the preservation of the stroma, may be preferable, Joseph Colin, MD, said here at the Refractive Surgery Subspecialty Day preceding the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting.
To further mitigate risk, Dr. Colin suggested intracorneal rings for patients with low myopia and phakic IOLs for patients with higher ametropia and deep anterior chambers. Surface ablation may be an option for patients with thin corneas, Dr. Colin said.
Dr. Colin also proposed the future possibility of combining corneal cross-linking and laser ablation.
"Future developments that may further reduce the incidence of ectasia include enhanced corneal tensile strength measurement and advanced topographic analysis," he said.