Laser Eye Surgery - Success Rates

zil

I'm seriously considering having laser eye surgery and I'm currently trying to research it as much as possible. I was wondering if anyone who has done this sort of research before me might have any information on the sucess rates of the various clinics in ireland. There seems to be very few that publish that sort of info on their website and I'd just thought I'd ask here before I started phoning around.

keefg

I did a lot of research before I got my eyes done but more on the procedure than any facts & figures put out by the companies that perform the surgery (which may or may not be fudged to make them look good, you decide )

But I can tell you that I had mine done just over two years ago and they are bang on, never had any problems and it's one of the best decisions I have ever made.

zil

Well the main reason I'm being so careful is that I have quite a high prescription, -7 with -3 astigmastism so a total of -10 in one eye. As prescription goes up, the percentage of successfull 20/20 results goes down so I want to make sure I pick a clinic that gives me the absoloute highest chance of being able to function without glasses when the surgery is over.

Helen2

I had also tried to find out this information.. I got nowhere with phone calls and the only audits I could find online were on the laservision website at the bottom of this page http://www.laservision.ie/content/laservision-procedure BTW several of my friends had gone to this clinic and were happy with it. I presume any of the hospital clinics will also have audits available.

brightkane

I am booked in on the 21st for surgery. have astigmatism also in both eyes

will let you know how i get on

Hail 2 Da Chimp

zil wrote: »

Well the main reason I'm being so careful is that I have quite a high prescription, -7 with -3 astigmastism so a total of -10 in one eye. As prescription goes up, the percentage of successfull 20/20 results goes down so I want to make sure I pick a clinic that gives me the absoloute highest chance of being able to function without glasses when the surgery is over.

Hey Zil, have you gone for a consultation? From what I understand the precentage of a successful 20/20 result on the first go lowers, the higher your perscription. It also varies with the type of surgery you opt for (IK / EK).
BUT it is also possible (and quite common) to have to redo one or more eyes.
So basically if they don't get it 20/20 first time, then they can have another go at it, if needed.

My advice -> go for a consultation! You have a quite high perscription and astigmatism, so the only advice you should be listening to is your consultants.

FWIW I was -4.5 & -4 and 3 months on, am delighted with the results.

zil

Hail 2 Da Chimp wrote: »

Hey Zil, have you gone for a consultation? From what I understand the precentage of a successful 20/20 result on the first go lowers, the higher your perscription. It also varies with the type of surgery you opt for (IK / EK).
BUT it is also possible (and quite common) to have to redo one or more eyes.
So basically if they don't get it 20/20 first time, then they can have another go at it, if needed.

My advice -> go for a consultation! You have a quite high perscription and astigmatism, so the only advice you should be listening to is your consultants.

FWIW I was -4.5 & -4 and 3 months on, am delighted with the results.

I went for a consultation the other day and was told that I have slightly below average corneal thickness which combined with my high prescription means that they have to be careful about planning the surgery as theres so little tissue to work with. Makes me even more wary I suppose.

For anyone thats interested I managed to get the success rates from the wellington eye clinic.

Average
6/6 - 88%
6/12 100%
Second surgery required - 2.5%

They have a break down of that for varying strength prescriptions and the success rate for mixed astigmastism is only 76% for 6/6 and only 88% get to 6/12, which is the max error you can have and still drive. 1 in 10 people with high prescription can't drive without glasses after the surgery .

I'm wondering if these numbers relate to the first surgery or if its the final number including any additionall correction surgeries. I know with high prescription theres less scope for additional correction as theres so little tissue left so perhaps these number are for the final outcome. If so seems like a lot of money to pay to only have a 3 in 4 chance of getting 20/20 vision.

Guess I'm going to have to put a lot more time into investigating this.

juke

zil wrote: »

For anyone thats interested I managed to get the success rates from the wellington eye clinic.

Average
6/6 - 88%
6/12 100%
Second surgery required - 2.5%

Well - they give this information to every patient, so it's not a secret.

I've posted already on other threads on my experiences. I had to have a re-enhancement in one eye, and I couldn't be happier.

OP - if you have a friends recommendation on a surgeon - that's what I'd go with again, rather than anonymous recommendations.

zil

juke wrote: »

Well - they give this information to every patient, so it's not a secret.

I've posted already on other threads on my experiences. I had to have a re-enhancement in one eye, and I couldn't be happier.

OP - if you have a friends recommendation on a surgeon - that's what I'd go with again, rather than anonymous recommendations.

I wasn't trying to imply that I had to mission impossible into their office and crack the safe to get the results. Just that I wasn't able to find them on the website and had to give them a call to obtain the details.

Faith+1

I always wanted to get it done myself however no-one will touch me. My prescription is + which basically means I'm screwed .i.e Long sighted! Lousy family genes!:mad:

zil

Faith+1 wrote: »

I always wanted to get it done myself however no-one will touch me. My prescription is + which basically means I'm screwed .i.e Long sighted! Lousy family genes!:mad:

Well I know some clinics claim they can treat hyperopia up to +5, but I'm guessing you already knew that and have a prescription outside that range - have you looked at http://www.wellingtoneyeclinic.com/treatments/phakic.asp? Both the Mater and the wellington can perform this treatment, quite expensive though.

Faith+1

I was told that they can replace the lenses in my eyes with artificial ones but that would require surgery. I think that is a bit drastic??

zil

I dunno about replacing your lens - I certainly think that would be far to drastic especially considering artifical lenses cant focus as well as your natural ones so you'd have difficulty changing from long to near distances.

However the procedure I linked doesn't effect your natural lens at all. The artifical lens is implanted near the top of your eye - I believe its in the same area as where laser surgery is performed. Its the same sort of procedure as laser surgery except instead of creating a flap a smaller incision is made, but its still done in a day clinic and only requires a local anasthetic. From my none medical background it actually seems less invasive than laser surgery as theres no tissue been removed and the procedure is reversible - unlike laser. However as I said it is quite expensive - in the order of €3000 per eye I believe.

brightkane

i am with Mr. Nylander tomrorow for a pre opp appointment and sunday for the op.

going with lasik with wavefront

Sesame

hi Zil,

Did they tell you what your corneal thickness was?
I went for consultation and give a straight no way would they operate on me. corneas were both very borderline 5000 (micro milimetres?) one about 4991 and other 5009 or something like that. And my eyesight is -7 in both eyes. No asig. He said borderline would be ok if my eyesight wasn't so bad, but because they would need to laser more cornea, its too risky.
He said they would need to be 5500 to be safe.

I'm wondering though were they being extra cautious. Should I go for consultation for 2nd opinion. but then again, would I trust it? I'm not so sure.

gipi

Faith+1 wrote: »

I always wanted to get it done myself however no-one will touch me. My prescription is + which basically means I'm screwed .i.e Long sighted! Lousy family genes!:mad:

I had lasik last year and I was long-sighted (+2.25 / + 5.25, and an additional +1.25 on each eye for reading glasses).

Left eye (+5.25) is perfect.

Right eye (+2.25) wasn't such a success - it was over-corrected and remained slightly short-sighted (-0.5). There was also a slight astigmatism which hadn't bothered me before the surgery but was causing some problems. I had an enhancement in March (lasik customised wavefront). However I'm now long-sighted again (+1.25 at last check up this week) so I'm seeing the surgeon next month to discuss where I go from here.

(to further complicate matters I don't have true binocular vision, my right eye is the dominant one so I'm using glasses and/or a contact lens at the moment!).

comongethappy

just wondering - I am shortsighted (-6.00 and -5.75), and I know from my family genetics it will just keep getting worse when I'm older. My gran currently has to wear both contact lenses and glasses to see (and yet they still haven't taken her driving liscense away from her :rolleyes:)

After you have laser surgery correction, are you still able to wear contact lenses if your vision degrades? I don't mind if it's fine for a few years and then once I'm in my 30's starts to go downhill again, but I want to be able to wear contacts as I hate wearing glasses. I just don't want to end up like my gran.

The Scull

brightkane wrote: »

I am booked in on the 21st for surgery. have astigmatism also in both eyes

will let you know how i get on

Hi , I also have astigmatism and would like to get the Treatment...Im told it Could be slightly more expensive?
Best of luck with it.

zil

Sesame wrote: »

hi Zil,

Did they tell you what your corneal thickness was?
I went for consultation and give a straight no way would they operate on me. corneas were both very borderline 5000 (micro milimetres?) one about 4991 and other 5009 or something like that. And my eyesight is -7 in both eyes. No asig. He said borderline would be ok if my eyesight wasn't so bad, but because they would need to laser more cornea, its too risky.
He said they would need to be 5500 to be safe.

I'm wondering though were they being extra cautious. Should I go for consultation for 2nd opinion. but then again, would I trust it? I'm not so sure.

I believe both my eyes were in the 490 range. I had been told years ago that I probably wasn't a great candidate because of my high prescription and below average corneal thickness but when I went for the consultation I was told that they are able to create thinner flaps now. The thickness you need to worry about is the thickness under the flap after the laser not the overall thickness after which I hadn't realised. So if they can make a thinner flap then they have more room to work with, so it might be worth going back and having another look.

Sesame

Was only given that refusal about 3 months ago. He measured my eyes and gave a flat out no straight away.
I was very disappointed. I'd been saving up for ages for the treatment and had just plucked up the nerve to go for it.
Still, I think I will go for a consultation at another company, see what they say. The first place might be over cautious or something.
If the second place say my corneal thickness is fine, then I will still need a 3rd opinion though! One yes and one no is not sufficient for my piece of mind!