Part 1. Why Do Different Laser Eye Clinics Recommend Different Treatments?

| Oct 18, 2008 | Comments 0

Laser eye surgery questionsJust had a great series of questions from Kay in a comment in response to my blog post How Much Should You Pay For LASIK?

There are some very interesting points here that do in fact come up pretty frequently in the clinic and from people inquiring into laser eye surgery, be it LASIK or PRK.

Many people can get confused, quite naturally, from the often bewildering amount of information on LASIK that is available on the internet and from clinics via information packs. Each clinic claims to have better technology, surgeons, results, experience etc than their competitors and much of it can be taken with a handful of salt.

Some honest straight forward information would be helpful.

I liked Kay’s questions so much I shall write a series of answers over the coming days. These will address such questions as:

  1. Do clinics try to sell you on the most expensive treatments?
  2. Are these expensive treatments no better than the cheaper ones?
  3. Is it ethical to offer older treatments when new (claimed as better) technology is now available?
  4. Is there really any difference between blade LASIK and the newer (more expensive) blade free dual laser option?
  5. Why do some surgeons strongly recommend LASEK or PRK?
  6. Why is there such a variation in price between clinics?
  7. Why do clinics offer radically different treatments for the same prescription?
Check back to this blog over the coming days to get ALL the answers.
Here is Kay’s comment in full:

Comment by Kay on 17 October 2008:

Hi Dave

I am exploring having laser surgery and was hoping you could clarify a few points for me please?

Both Optimax and Optical Express suggested that I go for blade free Wavefront treatment, but also said I could opt for the cheaper treatments. If technology is now more advanced and the blade free method is considered safer how is it ethical to allow patients to opt for a sub-standard treatment?

Statistics published on complications and results achieved seem to be quite limited (i.e based on a small amount of patients compared to the 2 million a year having treatment)but overall (from my limited reading) there does not appear to be that much difference between microkeratome Lasik and blade free Lasik. Is there any studies or statistic that you can point me in the direction of to support either treatment?

At a third consultation (at the Birkdale Clinic) the surgeon strongly recommended Lasek over Lasik on the grounds of biomechanical stability. The same surgeon also suggested after my eye exam that Wavefront treatment for me would not necessarily offer any additional benefits.

Im now completely confused as I can’t work out whether the first mentioned clinics are trying to sell me the most expensive treatment to get more money or if the Birkdale is behind on the technology front. (The Birkdale do offer Wavefront Lasik and Lasek but not blade free).

Do you think some clinics are pushing the more expensive treatments to pay for the lasers they have already invested without the evidence being conclusive at this stage as to whether it will achieve better results?

Finally when I rang Focus to obtain some information I was told that you would probably not even treat my right eye as the prescription is too low. My prescription is

RIGHT SPH -050 CYL -075 AXIS 110
LEFT SPH -025 CYL -225 AXIS 90

Obviously there is a huge difference between £0 to not treat the eye and £1700 at other clinics. Is there any way to get independent advice (outside of the clinics selling the procedure) on what the best treatment for me is?

Apologies for the extremely long post

Kind regards

Kay

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Filed Under: LASIK

About the Author: Mr. Dave Allamby FRCS FRCOphth is a leading London-based laser eye surgeon. You may have seen him on the This Morning TV show with Phillip Schofield and Fern Britton or read one of several articles in the national press, recently for treating Denise Van Outen, rock giant Rick Wakeman and broadcaster Paul Ross. David is Medical Director at Focus Laser Vision, known as a world-leading clinic in the treatment of presbyopia, or age related loss of close vision. Focus Laser Vision is also London's only clinic to offer next-generation Z-LASIK laser eye treatment for short sight, long sight or astigmatism.

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