Does the ICL eye surgery really give you better vision than LASIK?
Doctor Answers 7
Intraocular Contact Lens(ICL) versus LASIK
These are both great procedures. LASIK is a procedure totally performed on the surface of the eye, so it is automatically less invasive than an ICL. We do use an ICL in patients who have a very high degree of nearsightedness and it has been proven to be very effective with terrific vision afterwards that is at least as good as LASIK, sometimes better. Your best bet is to choose the very best surgeon, get a thorough evaluation, and be sure all of your questions are answered. The surgeon should direct you towards the best procedure. If you ever feel the surgeon is choosing a procedure for any other reason than the very best result for you, then get out of there and get another opinion!
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ICL or Implantable Collamer Lens vs LASIK
The ICL is a rapid, procedure used to implant a lens inside the eye to correct high nearsightedness. This procedure does not involve removal of tissue nor reshaping of the cornea, thus, the quality of vision has been shown in several studies to be better than LASIK for high prescriptions.
The ICL offers another procedure in the doctor's "bag" to correct refractive errors or prescriptions of the eye. It is important to seek the care of an eyeMD to determine which procedure is best for you.
ICL can sometimes be a better choice than LASIK, but not always
The ICL is a lens which is placed inside the eye to correct refractive error. It has the potential advantage of being removable, and does not require the cornea to be modified as in LASIK. It does require a small hole to be made in the iris or colored part of the eye, and can cause cataracts in some cases. It is also more expensive to have performed than LASIK, potentially can have more serious complications since it is within the interior of the eye, and currently is not approved for correcting astigmatism.
The ICL is a lens made by Staar which is placed inside the eye during a surgical procedure to correct nearsightedness. The Staar lens is made of a very biocompatible material and therefore does not cause inflammation within the eye. It may soon also be able to correct astigmatism when this version is approved by the FDA. It is one of several brands of lenses that go into the eye along with the natural lens to improve the vision as opposed to LASIK which works by reshaping the front corneal tissue of the eye.
The ICL is most often used in high corrections or in cases where the cornea is too thin or unstable preventing LASIK. Some doctors offer the ICL as a "premium procedure" but it has not been proven to provide results better than LASIK in most cases. In cases where the ICL does not fully correct the vision it needs to be removed/replaced or LASIK can be done in addition to "fine tune" the results.
In summary, the current status of the ICL is that it is potentially a good option for certain situations but at this time is used mostly for cases where LASIK is not a good option.
Honestly, there are studies that support Visian giving better vision and studies supporting LASIK giving better vision. However, each procedure has its limits on what refractive errors it can correct. For example, LASIK can correct the range of –8.00 to –10.00 safely while Vision correction can range from –3.00 to –15.00. Visian may be used to reduce nearsightedness for the –15.00 to –20.00 range. LASIK can correct up to –4.00 to –15.00 of astigmatism, whereas the Visian lens to correct astigmatism is not yet approved by the FDA in the USA. It is best to discuss the options with a surgeon who offers both procedures and can help you select the best one for you. Many factors must be considered such as corneal topography (shape) and corneal tissue thickness (pachymetry).