Author: Healio ophthalmology

VIDEO: Visual outcomes ‘excellent’ with surface ablation after LASIK flap complication

NEW YORK ― At the OSN New York meeting here, Priyanka Sood, MD, recommends waiting until refractive stability is achieved in cases of re-treatment after LASIK flap complications. In 11 of 14 cases at her clinic, refractive stability was achieved within 2 weeks of the initial abandoned procedure, and re-treatment with surface ablation on top of the flap resulted in “excellent visual outcomes.”

Data monitoring key to tracking, improving toric IOL outcomes

NEW YORK — Keeping extensive records of accuracy, tracking outcomes and measuring accurately are key to improving surgical outcomes after toric IOL implantation and reducing the need for enhancement following the procedure, according to a speaker here. “You want to automate as much as possible,” Denise M. Visco, MD, said at the OSN New York meeting. “It’s critical that if you put a lot of effort into measuring, you need to put a lot of effort into marking. You want to track your results and go in the direction of (Read more...)

Non-IV sedation eases anxiety for patients undergoing cataract surgery

NEW YORK — Patients who received sublingual anesthesia prior to cataract surgery had less anxiety than those who underwent an intravenous form of anesthesia for cataract surgery, according to a presenter here.“Sublingual sedation approaches decrease the need for IVs. You get a predictable dosing, …it allows a sublingual administration, patients really like it, and you get a little bit better focusing on the light and a ketamine stare,” John P. Berdahl, MD, said at the OSN New York meeting.

PUBLICATION EXCLUSIVE: Managing excessive residual astigmatism after toric IOL implantation

Even though 90% of our toric IOL cases should be within 0.5 D of residual astigmatism, there will be cases in which the outcome is intolerable for the patient and something must be done. The following discussion explains the proper management.The first step is to reassure the patient that an adjustment can easily be made and to make sure that the refraction is stable. Toric IOLs rarely rotate after implantation, but the wound is not stable until at least 3 weeks after surgery with a 2.5-mm temporal incision and will (Read more...)

BLOG: The best thing I saw at AAO? Allergan’s social contract

The AAO meeting is always a great time to catch up with friends and learn about new technologies. To be sure, this meeting had some exciting new approvals, like Shire’s Xiidra for dry eye, Alcon’s CyPass micro-stent for glaucoma, and the AMO Symfony implant—the first extended depth-of-focus implant in the U.S. While technology is great, I was most impressed with Allergan’s announcement by CEO Brent Saunders of the company’s new social contract.

Under what circumstances would you consider the off-label combination of corneal inlay surgery and LASIK?

PointWith the Kamra inlay, we have found the “sweet spot” for our happiest patients is a refractive error around –0.75 D. However, at least half of our presbyopic patients present with a refractive error significantly different from this value. In these cases, we have used LASIK to correct the refraction to this value.