Cataract surgery after keratorefractive surgery requires risk counseling
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
CHICAGO — Patients with high myopia who had keratorefractive surgery may present with cataracts at a younger age, according to a presenter.
“Laser keratorefractive surgeries like LASIK, SMILE and surface ablation are now some of the most commonly performed surgical procedures around the world,” Marcus Ang, MBBS, PhD, said at Refractive Surgery Subspecialty Day at the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting. “What this means is that more and more patients who need cataract surgery are probably going to have some form of previous laser refractive surgery. More importantly, more patients are going to come to us with high myopia.”
When planning for cataract surgery after keratorefractive surgery in patients with high myopia, Ang said assessments of higher-order aberrations and the ocular surface are useful. However, preoperative assessment and biometry may be challenging in these cases, particularly in eyes with longer axial length and flatter keratometry.
Postoperative enhancements and presbyopia options may be limited in these patients, so extensive counseling on the risks and benefits of every option should be performed.
“A long conversation with patients, especially young high myopes, is needed in terms of enhancement and presbyopic options,” Ang said. “High myopes probably have had greater volumes of treatment, and laser enhancement may not always be possible. I like to tell my patients that if they do need enhancements, it often has to be some kind of secondary intraocular lens procedure.”
Collapse
Ang M. Cataract planning after keratorefractive surgery in high myopia. Presented at: American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting; Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 2022; Chicago.
Read more about
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts