Tell us about your LASIK!

When we remove cataracts, we replace the cataract with an intraocular lens implant. It has been well known for a couple of decades now that the calculation of the power of the lens implant is affected if the patient has had prior LASIK or other laser vision correction. What this means is that we might implant the wrong lens implant if we don’t know that the patient has had prior LASIK, as there are different formulas we use to calculate the lens power if we know about prior LASIK. People often forget to tell us that they had prior LASIK, and sometimes they don’t remember that they ever even had LASIK!

This might seem unbelievable when you first hear it, but we do encounter this situation. There are some clues that we look for to indicate a history of prior LASIK, but there are some cases where it is really hard to tell just by examining a patient. So, if you ever go to an eye doctor, make sure that you tell them if you have had LASIK before.