Lift LASIK flap in cases of infectious keratitis

BARCELONA — Elevating the flap and then culturing and scraping beneath it is how infectious keratitis after LASIK should be approached, according to a presentation sponsored by the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery Cornea Clinical Committee. “If there is ever a time when it is important to elevate the flap, it’s after LASIK. These patients have all been on prophylactic antibiotics, so the idea of treating empirically with an antibiotic that has already been ineffectual suggests that whatever is underneath that flap is not going to be sensitive to the current antibiotic that’s being used,” OSN Cornea/External Disease Board Member Eric D. Donnenfeld, MD, said at the International Conference on Ocular Infections held jointly with the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons meeting. Furthermore, consider irrigating antibiotic under the flap at the time of culture and scraping, Donnenfeld suggested.