New Eye Surgery (Implantable Contact Lens) Performed For First Time In Omaha as LASIK Surgery Alternative
The federal government approved a new kind of eye surgery, called "ICL," (implantable contact lens) which may help those who cannot benefit from laser procedures.
Doctors said that even with the latest generation of laser equipment, there's still a small portion of patients who just aren't suited for laser eye surgery.
"Either their corneas are too thin, or their corneas are too weak, or their corneas are too flat," said Dr. John Liu, of Omaha Eye and Laser Institute.
Doctors have been implanting contacts for years, but the new twist in ICL is a foldable lens. Because of it, doctors make only a tiny incision in the patient's eye. They use a small tube to insert the ICL behind the iris. They then close the eye in front of it, holding the lens in place, making it virtually invisible, and it heals fast.
"They can start seeing out of that eye the same day, so within a couple hours, they can actually see 20/20," Liu said.
The developers of ICL claim patients will have sharper post-surgery vision than with Lasik, and it is reversible. The downside is that ICL is available only to those who are nearsighted between ages 20 and 45. It is an internal surgery, which slightly increases the chances of infection, though studies show the chances are about one in 1,000 cases. ICL is currently several hundred dollars more expensive than Lasik.
Filed under Eye Treatment, Lasik Eye Surgery
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