BY EU STUDIO
Updated Tuesday, June 14, 2022-14:42
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As an alternative to the use of glasses or contact lenses, there are multiple effective refractive surgery techniques to correct myopia, hyperopia or astigmatism, as well as to deal with presbyopia or "tired eyesight". Both in laser procedures and in the implantation of different types of lenses, the specialists at Miranza, a leading ophthalmology group in Spain, always seek the best combination of efficacy, safety and satisfaction of the patient's visual needs.
"In surgery to correct refractive errors, there are different surgical options that have to be personalized, depending on the age and characteristics of each patient's eye," explains Dr. Félix González, specialist in refractive surgery and deputy medical director of Miranza Madrid (Miranza IOA, Miranza Ophthalteam and Miranza Getafe).
Basically, the options are divided into two groups: laser techniques and intraocular lens techniques.
"When we have a high refraction or a cornea of poor quality, of low thickness or altered or unstructured, the first option will surely be an intraocular lens," says the specialist, one of the ophthalmologists with the most experience in lens implantation intraocular (he has more than 3,000 ICL lenses implanted).
According to his colleague at Miranza IOA, Dr. Ricardo Pérez, "patients who, due to age or eye characteristics, must opt for lenses, benefit from an important advantage: reversibility, that is, at any time we can return to the point of starting before surgery, without altering the eye, beyond the minimal incision through which the lens is inserted and removed, if necessary".
The best known model is the ICL, which is a lens made of collamer, a material with very good biocompatibility and that does not carry a risk of rejection, in addition to achieving very good quality of vision, since it does not touch the cornea or the lens. , the natural lens of the eye, which continues to maintain its characteristics unchanged.
All these advantages mean that "from certain diopters, or even in the case of low myopia, if the cornea does not have the appropriate characteristics, more and more we opt for this type of lens, which is very safe and provides excellent quality. of exceptional vision", assures Dr. Ricardo Pérez.
Despite this, "if we have a cornea in very good condition, with a graduation that is not very high, the choice will go more towards the laser, whose objective is to modify its curvature so that the light rays that fall on it can focus correctly on the retina, thus achieving clear vision", explains Félix González.
There are several techniques that are based on the use of high-precision, latest-generation lasers to "shape" the cornea, such as Lasik, the most widely used technique in the world and which has proven its effectiveness for more than 25 years;
the SMILE technique, more recent and characterized by being minimally invasive or PRK, a procedure that acts at a superficial level, so it does not require access to the interior of the cornea.
indication
To achieve success in refractive surgery, it is first necessary to make a good indication, and for that the surgeon must analyze all the data of the patient's refraction.
"The data from the examination, both of the cornea and of the entire rest of the eye, are key to knowing if an eye is a good candidate for surgery. There is an indication for each patient, taking into account that one technique is not better than another , but there is a technique indicated for each person, not only because of the characteristics of their eye, but also because of their profession, hobbies, life habits and expectations", explains Dr. Félix González
Diagnosis and examination prior to refractive surgery
For this reason, the patient facing reactive surgery has to go through a series of examinations and tests, such as corneal tomography, a map of the cornea that reveals its thickness, optical characteristics and degree of optical aberrations, "what allow us to know if that eye meets the characteristics to be operated with laser or not", says Dr. Francisco Poyales, director of Miranza Madrid.
In addition, it is also important to know the state of the retina, especially the macula, as well as the lens and, in general, the entire anterior pole.
In this sense, the new OCT stand out, a test that is based on light to obtain wide-field images that show absolutely the entire anterior segment, even dynamically, since they already give a completely reliable idea of what the eye is like and of what will the result of the surgery be like afterwards?
Likewise, "it is key to carry out a previous dry eye study to avoid discomfort and postoperative complications. In this sense, if the patient suffers from dry eyes, this condition is treated before they undergo surgery and also for as long as necessary. after the intervention", adds the medical director of Miranza Madrid.
But beyond surgery, Miranza experts recall that "once the operation is performed, the eye remains myopic, that is, it continues to have myopic characteristics, which are associated with other pathologies that may be retinal, macular pathologies or pathologies of the lens, and, therefore, revisions must be maintained, since we have corrected the myopia, but we have not changed the rest of the eye".
Less tablet, more bike
Dr. Francisco Poyales explains that the myopic person is a patient very conditioned by their refractive error.
Myopia is very limiting for a normal life, which has a great impact on the daily life of a significant part of the population, since the prevalence of myopia is enormous.
Currently, in the West, the incidence is around 30%, much lower than in the East, but progressively increasing, as a result of the use of our close vision.
There are more and more tablets, more mobiles and more computers in our day to day, which enhances the increase in the prevalence of myopia.
For this reason, Miranza specialists offer advice for the youngest, but also for parents: "less tablet and more bicycle".
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