Refractive Surgery Blog

Shaul Turner, anchor of FOX News's Good Morning Colorado, interviewed Dr. Stuart Lewis this morning to "set the record straight" on the latest FDA study on LASIK and to provide an update on the latest technology in refractive surgery. The interview was to some degree a reiteration of the recent press release given by Dr. Lewis (see April 28, 2008 blog entry).

The essence of the FDA study reaffirmed the safety and efficacy of LASIK but did report about up to a 5% complication rate during the period of that study which ended in 2005. Dr. Lewis acknowleged that problems with glare and dry eyes were an issue for a small number of patients in the past. However, with the present state-of-the-art technologies, LASIK can now be performed more predictably and safely than ever before. In fact, the procedure is so stable that it has been approved by the Navy for pilots and by NASA for astronauts.

Technological advances such as the Pentacam that have become available during the past two years have made it easier to predict a patient's candidacy for refractive surgery and make it easier to exclude patients who would be a complication risk. Finally, use of the Intralase in combination with Wavescan Technology makes the procedure more precise and has significantly reduced the number of complications that inspired the FDA study.

To see Good Day Colorado's story on this click here.