LASIK Safety and Quality

Eye On Your Health

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Department of Defense (DOD) and National Eye Institute (NEI) have formed a joint venture to identify the frequency and predictors of problems associated with the surgery known as laser assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK).

This will be a three phase study to conclude in 2012. The first phase will ask patients through online surveys to report their postoperative quality of life.

The second phase will evaluate select active-duty population treated at a Navy Refractive Surgery Center. And the third phase will be a national, multicenter clinical trial studying the impact of quality of life in the general population. In 2008, the FDA announced the surgery was safe and well accepted, but that aggressive marketing of the procedure resulted in poor clinical decision making.

If you are a good candidate for LASIK then your results should be typical. If you are over 40 years of age though, be prepared for the limitations that you should expect as described by your eye surgeon. And at any age, if you have a systemic inflammatory disease that may interfere with the healing process, corneal pathology or dry eyes, discuss these issues prior to surgery .

After reviewing the FDA and DOD protocol for the study, I must say I am impressed enough to run the process through my own patients to have valid data on outcomes for improvement in quality of life. This will help empower our patients during the decision making process.

Neil F. Notaroberto, M.D.
EyeCare 20/20
Slidell – Mandeville – Harahan
www.eyecare2020.org