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Femtosecond Laser Cataract Surgery
I am considering having cataract surgery using the femtosecond LenSX method.
If there are any in this forum who have experienced this method of surgery I would
be interested in their post-op outcomes and how the procedure went, in general.
Thank you very much for any input.
laura5121
If there are any in this forum who have experienced this method of surgery I would
be interested in their post-op outcomes and how the procedure went, in general.
Thank you very much for any input.
laura5121
Hi Marjnev:
Excellent advice from Nancy. Remember, knowledge is power. Read as much as you can without becoming too overwhelmed. Search the internet for information on Cataract Surgery using femtosecond laser method. Search your area for MDs using this relatively new method of surgery but I personally believe it is worth the extra out-of-pocket expense. Keep asking questions.
Take care.
Excellent advice from Nancy. Remember, knowledge is power. Read as much as you can without becoming too overwhelmed. Search the internet for information on Cataract Surgery using femtosecond laser method. Search your area for MDs using this relatively new method of surgery but I personally believe it is worth the extra out-of-pocket expense. Keep asking questions.
Take care.
You folks are all so far ahead of me in knowing about this stuff. The comments about different rooms had me puzzled, so I read some more. Evidently sometimes they use laser pretreatment and then ultrasound to complete the surgery. I guess that explains two rooms for the equipment. Just thought I'd add this in case someone is reading this who doesn't understand (like me).
marjnev, don't be afraid of the surgery. It is a piece of cake, really. My mom had the surgery the traditional way without LenSX when she was 85 and it was similarly easy for her. If you are getting monofocal lenses, I don't think it matters which way you do it. Probably more important with the adaptive and multifocal lenses.
If you can afford the laser and want to do it that way there must be a surgeon in Raleigh that does the entire procedure with laser, with all the universities nearby. Search the internet for keywords: LenSX cataract Raleigh, NC. Ask your eye doctor. You will probably have to have a referral from him/her anyway.
BTW, I lived in Raleigh for 5 years. Beautiful town.
marjnev, don't be afraid of the surgery. It is a piece of cake, really. My mom had the surgery the traditional way without LenSX when she was 85 and it was similarly easy for her. If you are getting monofocal lenses, I don't think it matters which way you do it. Probably more important with the adaptive and multifocal lenses.
If you can afford the laser and want to do it that way there must be a surgeon in Raleigh that does the entire procedure with laser, with all the universities nearby. Search the internet for keywords: LenSX cataract Raleigh, NC. Ask your eye doctor. You will probably have to have a referral from him/her anyway.
BTW, I lived in Raleigh for 5 years. Beautiful town.
very helpful comments..i'm much older than most people posting here, and I'm fraid of laser for my left cataract....the one dr I went to uses two rooms, which I'm not crazy about/moving around during the procedure....and he is way more $$.....my other Dr is still not using laser for cataracts...
no decision here yet on who to go to,in Raleigh nc
no decision here yet on who to go to,in Raleigh nc
I forgot to say that both my lenses were monofocal lenses. I was not even a candidate for a toric lens (for my astigmatism) because my eye is so long (which made me extremely nearsighted). What was good about the femtosecond laser is that it reduced the astigmatism significantly doing limbal relaxing incisions.
At the place I had it done, they don't ordinarily give "happy juice" to patients unless they specifically ask for it. Although I was petrified, I really don't like being doped up, so I just tried to "grin and bear it". It is not painful, just very scary, and you have to make sure you don't move!
At the place I had it done, they don't ordinarily give "happy juice" to patients unless they specifically ask for it. Although I was petrified, I really don't like being doped up, so I just tried to "grin and bear it". It is not painful, just very scary, and you have to make sure you don't move!
Hi Nancy:
I was referring to the LenSX procedure - Thanks much for the info. Your IV was probably sugar water!!! (I hope so, so that you won't want to keep having cataract surgeries!!!)
Take care
laura5121
I was referring to the LenSX procedure - Thanks much for the info. Your IV was probably sugar water!!! (I hope so, so that you won't want to keep having cataract surgeries!!!)
Take care
laura5121
Hi ValveJob:
Thanks so much. I wish you the best with your surgery results.
laura5121
Thanks so much. I wish you the best with your surgery results.
laura5121
Laura, when you say "laser procedure," do you mean LRI or LASIK? I didn't get either of those done. He just used the laser to make two incisions in the cornea, to un-attach the cataract around the edges, and to break it up into pieces. Then he inserted the lens. I only know this because that's what the brochure said they would do. So I stayed in one room the whole time.
I don't know who administered the topical anesthetic. In fact I don't even remember it happening. They covered your whole face except for the one eye so I didn't see much. Whatever IV stuff they give you beforehand made you not really care what they did. [Where can I get more of this stuff (just kidding)?]
And yes, I got the monofocal IOL. I don't mind wearing glasses so it wasn't worth the risk of complications for me.
I don't know who administered the topical anesthetic. In fact I don't even remember it happening. They covered your whole face except for the one eye so I didn't see much. Whatever IV stuff they give you beforehand made you not really care what they did. [Where can I get more of this stuff (just kidding)?]
And yes, I got the monofocal IOL. I don't mind wearing glasses so it wasn't worth the risk of complications for me.
In my case, it was done in two separate rooms. They transported me on a type of chair/stretcher to the other room.
I think it was the doctor doing the surgery who administered the topical anesthesia, but I would not swear to it.
Maybe Nancy_in_GA remembers.
I think it was the doctor doing the surgery who administered the topical anesthesia, but I would not swear to it.
Maybe Nancy_in_GA remembers.
Hi Nancy:
Thanks for your response. I wondered if the area where the laser procedure takes place is in the same room where the phako procedure and lens implant takes place, and if they take place in separate areas, how do they transport you to the other area? Also
was your topical anesthesia administered by your MD or an anesthesiologist? If by the
latter, I'm sure that increased the fee considerably. Very glad your LenSX procedure went so well. Did you have a mono IOL or a multifocal IOL? I want to go with the mono's. Thanks again for your input.
Thanks for your response. I wondered if the area where the laser procedure takes place is in the same room where the phako procedure and lens implant takes place, and if they take place in separate areas, how do they transport you to the other area? Also
was your topical anesthesia administered by your MD or an anesthesiologist? If by the
latter, I'm sure that increased the fee considerably. Very glad your LenSX procedure went so well. Did you have a mono IOL or a multifocal IOL? I want to go with the mono's. Thanks again for your input.
My surgeon used the LenSX for cataract surgery in my left eye last month. These are the only things I can tell you....
The actual surgery was uneventful. As soon as the pupil came back to normal size I had to keep reminding myself I had had surgery. Never any pain, dryness, scratchiness, but maybe it would have been the same regardless.
In the one week follow-up the optometrist noted that the incision where they removed the cataract had a nice clean perfect edge. Does that matter? Who knows.
The surgeon said it was definitely superior, safer, more precise. Of course he may have been biased. I would suspect it would be better if your surgeon did not have as much experience the traditional way. Mine had already done thousands the traditional way.
It cost an extra $1000 for each eye, but I figured it was a once in a lifetime thing, so I went for it. It just made sense that it surely wouldn't be worse than using knives. I will request it again for the right eye.
One funny thing during surgery: At one point I swear I noticed seeing a bunch of tiny white squares in a grid. I know sometimes they use the laser to break the cataract up into a grid of squares before vacuuming. But I figured you wouldn't be able to see this. Was I dreaming this? Ha!
The actual surgery was uneventful. As soon as the pupil came back to normal size I had to keep reminding myself I had had surgery. Never any pain, dryness, scratchiness, but maybe it would have been the same regardless.
In the one week follow-up the optometrist noted that the incision where they removed the cataract had a nice clean perfect edge. Does that matter? Who knows.
The surgeon said it was definitely superior, safer, more precise. Of course he may have been biased. I would suspect it would be better if your surgeon did not have as much experience the traditional way. Mine had already done thousands the traditional way.
It cost an extra $1000 for each eye, but I figured it was a once in a lifetime thing, so I went for it. It just made sense that it surely wouldn't be worse than using knives. I will request it again for the right eye.
One funny thing during surgery: At one point I swear I noticed seeing a bunch of tiny white squares in a grid. I know sometimes they use the laser to break the cataract up into a grid of squares before vacuuming. But I figured you wouldn't be able to see this. Was I dreaming this? Ha!
Was the ORA wavefront (aka Precision vision aka Optiplus) utilized in your LenSX procedure?
I had cataract surgery in January using the femtosecond LenSX. I am very happy with the results.
The fact that I have a very long axial length (mixed with other measurements) precluded me from having a toric lens (for astigmatism). The laser made limbal relaxing incisions which left me with very, very little astigmatism.
For distance, there is always a margin of error, and since I have a long axial length, this margin of error was greater. However, in the right eye, it turned out perfectly (no correction needed). In the left eye, there is an overcorrection of .75 diopters.
In any case, since I needed glasses for slight double vision, that was corrected as well.
The fact that I have a very long axial length (mixed with other measurements) precluded me from having a toric lens (for astigmatism). The laser made limbal relaxing incisions which left me with very, very little astigmatism.
For distance, there is always a margin of error, and since I have a long axial length, this margin of error was greater. However, in the right eye, it turned out perfectly (no correction needed). In the left eye, there is an overcorrection of .75 diopters.
In any case, since I needed glasses for slight double vision, that was corrected as well.
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