ICL LASIK INTACS

Surgical treatment options for Keratoconus

Apart from non-surgical methods like eye glasses or contact lenses etc, some surgical options are also available for the keratoconus treatment. These surgical options are ICL and intacs. As the cornea of a keratoconic patient is thin already, so it is not advisable for a person suffering from keratoconus to undergo LASIK eye surgery. In some keratoconus cases the eye doctor may suggest the surgery. Although like every surgery, the vision correction surgeries also have some risks associated with them but the surgery can act as a permanent solution to the vision problem. It means you need not to deal with annoying process of caring, putting on and removing contact lenses or glasses daily.

Some available options of surgical treatment for keratoconus, your cornea specialist can suggest you, are the following-

• Implantable collamer lens (ICL) 

ICL inside the eye
Image by:
www.weyecli nic.sg

Implantable collamer lenses are mainly used for those who are not suitable candidates for LASIK eye surgery. Since in LASIK eye surgery procedure, the eye doctor removes some corneal tissue underneath using laser, hence making it unsuitable for keratoconus patients.

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As in keratoconus eye disease, the cornea is already thin as compared to normal healthy cornea. So keratoconus sufferers are suitable candidates for the implantable collamer lens (ICL).

ICL surgery Procedure

ICL is placed inside the eye and works with natural eye lens without replacing it. ICL is very small in size, so can be injected into the eye by making a very small hole in the cornea. It is inserted through this hole by folding it, as it is very soft and small and due to its elasticity it unfolds into its natural size inside the eye.

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ICL is made of collamer which is a unique bio-material so readily accepted by the eyes without any rejection as a foreign body.

ICL can stay inside the eyes for the lifetime without any problem or need for maintenance. Not only this, these can easily be removed or replaced if need arises by a simple surgical procedure.

Implantable collamer lens can correct short-sightedness, far-sightedness and astigmatism of very high powers successfully.

Risks of ICL surgery

Some potential risks involved in ICL surgery are mentioned here-

1-The ICL implanted can be of too weak power. For correction of this glasses can be used or ICL can be replaced.

2-Contrary to this the prescriptive power of ICL implanted may be too strong. To correct this in the same way either glasses can be used or ICL replacement can be done.

3-In some cases, need may arise to reposition or remove the implantable collamer lens.

4-In very rare cases some cases of eye infections have been observed in ICL surgeries.

5-Intraocular pressure may build up after ICL surgery in the eye. The eye doctor must necessarily notice it as soon as possible.

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6-It has been noticed that ICL may be the causes of cataract formation at an earlier age. Although it has been estimated that by the age of 65, more than 50% of the population will develop cataract.

7-There is also some risk of damage to the natural crystalline lens during the ICL surgical procedure.

8-In very rare cases, due to untreated eye, infection or bleeding, there is some possibility of vision loss.

9-In rare cases retinal detachment may occur. The possibility of retinal detachment increases with increase in myopia.

Here it is important to note that all the risks mentioned above related to ICL are generally not common and are rare, and most of them are not associated only with ICL but are common to other eye correction surgeries.

As I explained that keratoconus eye disease patients are not suitable candidates for the LASIK eye surgery, because of already thin cornea. Here a comparison table of ICL and LASIK eye surgery has been provided.

LASIK eye surgery
Image by:
eye.uams.edu

Particulars	ICL surgery	LASIK eye surgery
Time duration of the surgery	20 minutes approx.	20 minutes approx.
Quality of vision	Excellent	Excellent
Recovery time after surgery	Quick	Quick
Possibility of surgery for thin cornea	Possible	Limited
Dry eye problem	No	Occasional
Removability	Yes	No
Ultraviolet (UV) protection	Yes	No

Comparison table of ICL surgery and LASIK eye surgery

• INTACS

Intacs inside the eye
Image by:
www.nkcf.org

Intacs are very thin semi circular rings of plastic inserted into the cornea. When inserted into the cornea of a keratoconus patient, can flatten the cornea by reducing the cornea cone.

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In this way, intacs can reduce the irregularities of the corneal surface, which leads to improved vision. Depending on the severity of the keratoconus, eye glasses or contact lenses may still be required even after intacs implantation to get satisfactory vision.
Initially intacs were used for low myopia but after knowing its special advantages like its capability to flatten the cone of the cornea, it has been approved recently by FDA for keratoconus.

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