Flap Cut Risks?

| Jun 29, 2010 | Comments 0

Here are the answers to one of today’s questions:

From Ian, who said:

A fantastic site, very informative.  A quick (but naive) question.  I am very excited about the prospect of having intra Lasik to correct a minus 5 prescription.  However, I have read some scare stories on US web sites which suggest that it is possible that the cornea can be irreparably damaged during the flap creation process.  How often have you seen this happen?

Thanks Ian. Correcting a -5.00D prescription is quite routine and should give you no problems. You mentioned IntraLASIK, which is a brand name when the Intralase femtosecond laser is used to create a Lasik flap. I don’t know whether you refer to femtosecond Lasik in general or you are looking at the Intralase machine for treatment. Manufacturers AMO now refer to iLasik rather than IntraLASIK. Other version are Z-LASIK when the Ziemer femtosecond laser is used, and Visumax and Femtec systems from other companies.

The femtosecond lasers have replaced the blade-cut keratome Lasik procedures in many clinics. One of the reasons to do this is to eliminate the possibility of a seriously damaged flap from a keratome, which I have seen happen (although it’s occurrence is rare). I have never seen this occur with a femtosecond laser and it is not possible to ‘mangle’ a flap with these technologies, so added safety.

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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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