EyeWorld Asia-Pacific June 2016 Issue

June 2016 EWAP REFRACTIVE 45 laser eye surgery is a commodity, it is a surgical procedure that is being performed on healthy people with healthy eyes whose goal is to improve their vision and enjoy a glasses-free life. “There is no room for error,” Dr. Cummings said. “There is no room for commercial pressure on the patient’s suitability for the procedure.” If and when LASIK is provided in this environment and context, it will grow, he said. “It is a remarkable procedure with an incredible safety and efficacy record when properly and appropriately delivered.” Dr. Kanellopoulos sees the primary difference between people who wish they had LASIK done and those who had it done as fear rather than finances. “Creating public awareness that this is an extremely safe procedure—perhaps safer than wearing contact lenses— will increase the number of LASIK cases performed,” he said. “It still amazes me that patients wear everyday contact lenses, and they are very casual about it in regard to how old their lenses are and the hygiene that they use,” he said. They may sleep with their lenses in but then balk at the idea of having surgery on their eyes. “I think that we as an ophthalmic community need to propagate the data and the truth,” he said. “I have personally taken the road of being very honest with my patients, speaking openly about complications, and not trying to ‘sell’ the procedure, and I think this has helped me to have a tremendous turnaround in my patients in regard to how many of them decide to have surgery.” Dr. Kanellopoulos thinks that people are far more educated today than 20 years ago. “I think we are past the era of testimonials and more into the era of real science, educating our patients, and having them decide what the best solution is,” Dr. Kanellopoulos said. Dr. Chang thinks that good patient education and understanding of the misconceptions as well as good marketing techniques will help increase LASIK in areas where it may have declined. “Ultimately, good patient experience, low complication rates, and excellent results [are] the recipe for patients referring their friends and relatives,” he said. EWAP Editors’ note: Dr. Chang has no financial interests related to this article. Dr. Cummings has financial interests with Alcon (Fort Worth, Texas). Dr. Kanellopoulos has financial interests with Alcon, Allergan (Dublin), Kera-Med (Orange, California), Optovue (Fremont, California), i-Optics (The Hague, the Netherlands), and Carl Zeiss Meditec (Jena, Germany). Contact information Chang: johnchang@hksh.com Cummings: abc@wellingtoneyeclinic.com Kanellopoulos: ajk@brilliantvision.com MORIA S.A. 15, rue Georges Besse 92160 Antony FRANCE Phone: +33 (0) 1 46 74 46 74 - Fax: +33 (0) 1 46 74 46 70 moria@moria-int.com - www.moria-surgical.com THE MORIA OPTION FOR SBK Make your own comparisons between the One Use- Plus and a femtosecond laser in terms of capital investment, disposables per patient, and annual maintenance. www.moria-surgical.com Think Thin Thin, 100-micron, planar flaps Accuracy and predictability equivalent to Femto-SBK Smoother stromal bed No femto-complications … At a fraction of the cost Watch me in action