Studying Epi-LASIK without the flap

Maxine Lipner
EyeWorld Senior Contributing Editor

One of the hallmarks of Epi-LASIK has been the epithelial flap, which is laid back down after ablation. However, some practitioners have been taking an unusual approach and have begun removing the epithelial flap entirely. New study results presented at the 2006 American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting in Las Vegas indicate that visual outcomes and residual pain may be preferable without the flap.

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Airmen need commander approval before eye surgery

Beth Young
75th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

Advancements in laser eye surgeries have made it possible to get rid of a lifetime of eye glasses and contact lenses in one procedure, but before military members talk to the eye doctor, they need to talk to their commander.

“Because it is so easy to do, they don’t think of it as a surgery,” said Maj. (Dr.) Marvin Acquistapace, 75th Optometry Flight commander. “It hasn’t been really frequent but there have been several cases where people have gotten refractive surgery done on the civilian side, and it impacted their ability to be deployed.”

Because an adverse outcome or an extended recovery time could make them non-deployable, military members must get written approval from their squadron commander before getting any type of laser eye surgery, he said

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Experts Expose The Truth Behind "Horror Stories" of Lasik Surgeries Found Online

A new website, www.lasiktruth.org, has been launched to bring honesty to the Internet by eliminating bogus LASIK sites that present false claims of LASIK complications. Started in 2000, several LASIK bashing sites arose that were sponsored by lawyers "fishing" for clients to sue LASIK surgeons.

New York, NY (PRWEB) February 17, 2007

A new website, www.lasiktruth.org, has been launched to bring honesty to the Internet by eliminating bogus LASIK sites that present false claims of LASIK complications. Started in 2000, several LASIK bashing sites arose that were sponsored by lawyers "fishing" for clients to sue LASIK surgeons.

We are all familiar with lawyers' ads on radio, TV and newspapers that offer their services if we have been injured. This is an example of expensive types of advertisements. Now lawyers have found a very cheap, effective and dishonest way to advertise by highlighting LASIK complications as a method to recruit clients. These sites claim to be honest sites created by LASIK patients who have had complicated LASIK surgery and the site warns people, thus protecting the public. However these sites are totally bogus. The sites are characterized by 100 percent rambling of complaints. The false message is that maybe LASIK is unsafe. These sites are "optimized" so that they appear on the first pages of major search engines.

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Better screening, communication should help limit corneal ectasia

Las Vegas
Opthamology Times

Refractive surgeons may be able to reduce the incidence of corneal ectasia through careful screening for probable and possible risk factors, the use of microkeratomes producing predictable flap thickness, and increased communication with their colleagues, said R. Doyle Stulting, MD, PhD, here at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Also needed, according to Dr. Stulting, are prospective trials for borderline cases and basic investigations of keratocyte function. A planned international registry may help facilitate communication and research, he said.

Ectasia, first reported by Theo Seiler, MD, PhD, in 1998, Dr. Stulting said, is defined as thinning and steepening in the central cornea that causes progressive myopia and astigmatism, leading to loss of uncorrected visual acuity and best-corrected visual acuity.

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Quebec Eye Centers Switch to 'Blade-free' IntraLase LASIK Procedure

QUEBEC, Feb. 6 /CNW/

New blade-free IntraLase Method(TM) replaces thesurgical blade traditionally used to create the corneal flap before each LASIK procedure. This new technology is now available at Clinique Laser Visuel De Québec, Clinique de l'oeil de Montréal, Cliniques Michel Pop and Clinique 100% Vision.

The LASIK procedure is a highly evolved, safe procedure. However, until the introduction of IntraLase, LASIK was not an all-laser procedure, and the risks associated with the use of a hand-held blade (or mechanical microkeratome) have kept many patients from considering LASIK.

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