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SMILE’s advantages include improved tear osmolarity
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CHICAGO — Small incision lenticule extraction has some advantages over LASIK, with the procedure being less influenced by the environmental factors of surgery, such as hydration and exposure, according to a presenter here.
“It is a highly effective procedure. It has very high satisfaction rates, the dry eye is better, the biomechanics are better, induced aberration is lower, subjective pain is lower and the regression is lower,” Sunil Shah, MD, said at Refractive Subspecialty Day preceding the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting.
Aunil Shah
According to Shah, SMILE is most effective in treating myopes and myopic astigmatism.
Shah cited the results of a study that showed patients undergoing SMILE had vast improvement in tear osmolarity 6 months after surgery, “almost returning to normal,” he said.
“From the patient’s point of view, only 4% of patients are using lubrication at 6 months, which is quite a small number,” he said. However, Shah noted the cost of SMILE, the high learning curve, different complications, slower recovery of vision and greater risk of loss of corrected visual acuity are disadvantages of the procedure when compared with LASIK. – by Robert Linnehan
Reference:
Shah S. The case for refractive lenticular extraction. Presented at: American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting; Oct. 14-18, 2016; Chicago, Ill.
Disclosure: Shah reports no relevant financial disclosures.