The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved LASIK surgery back in 1995. Many improvements have been made to the procedure since the early days of its use.
The lasers that do the actual work of the surgery have improved vastly in precision. One of the issues that arise as a person becomes 40 is changes in eyesight due to the natural aging process.
Patients who have had LASIK surgery in their 20s or 30s may experience this change in vision. So, can a LASIK surgery become enhanced?
The second time around
A good ophthalmologist like the ones in Houston at the Houston LASIK Clinic will most likely tell you, it depends. Laser eye surgery becomes determined by the most appropriate courses of action for a patient.
It begins with a look at the cornea and determining its thickness, the patient’s present eye history, and looking at an array of new tools available. Many procedures did not exist 10 to 15 years ago, so it is possible to have a second LASIK surgery.
Retreatment
From 2012 to 2017, a review of the efficacy and safety of outcomes of the second surgery in LASIK became studied. Using a total of 108 eyes, the doctors chose flap lift and surface ablation as the retreatment options.
The study looked to confirm which of the two techniques offered a better outcome for patients. What became discovered in its analysis of data became redoing the flap lift incision resulted in a better refractive outcome.
Another study was done in Spain with various eye issues such as myopia, hyperopia, or presbyopia who have a LASIK procedure ten years or earlier showed the ability to produce the desired improvement in sight existed despite it being a second surgery. The data showed 100 percent of the patients achieving 20/25 eyesight, and out of that group, 80 percent had visual acuity of 20/20.
Risks
The second round of LASIK surgery does come with some more risk than the first time around. A condition known as epithelial ingrowth can occur where corneal epithelium moves to an area it does not belong.
The cells sometimes move into the incision site between the flap and the stromal bed in the cornea. Giving the ophthalmologist a detailed history of the prior procedure will help avoid that.
Other surgeries exist, such as PRK, if epithelial ingrowth would be an issue. Mild ingrowth of epithelial cells causes no issue.
Solutions do exist for more extensive epithelial cell growth, but it takes more surgery. Cases exist that epithelial ingrowth just spontaneously disappears.
Determining if it is time
A change in eyesight, particularly if a person has had laser eye surgery, means a trip to a laser eye surgery clinic. The choices available to alleviate the blurriness have increased with new technology and tools.
The knowledge of ophthalmologists brings the more spectacular outcomes of success. Careful selection of patients for a second LASIK surgery determines the success. When the eyes blur and interfere with vision and patient history does not exclude a second surgery, then LASIK surgery number two can successfully take care of the problem.
Houston Lasik leads in providing premium LASIK technologies to Houston, Sugar Land, and the surrounding region. The center’s award-winning medical director introduced revolutionary technologies such as iLASIK to the region. This technology is used by NASA astronauts, Navy SEALS, and Air Force fighter pilots. At Houston Lasik, you can now receive the same treatment. For more information, please call (281) 240-0478
Via
https://americanrefractivesurgerycouncil.org/lasik-complication-rate-latest-facts/
https://www.reviewofophthalmology.com/article/treating-epithelial-ingrowth-after-lasik
