Intacs for Keratoconus

Patients with keratoconus often have high degrees of shortsight(myopia) and astigmatism due to irregular corneal steepening caused by the condition.

Esssentially a specially shaped contact lens(made from material similar to a conventional hard contact lens) is implanted into the cornea, this helps make the central cornea flatter and more regular, and hence reduces the visual distortion which occurs with Keratoconus.

These implants are inserted under local anaesthetic via a small incision in the cornea ,and once they are in place a small stitch is used to seal the incision area.

Antibiotic eyedrops are given,and after 12-24 hrours the patient can normally resume everday activities.Once healing is completed in 2-3 weeks the other eye if necessary can be treated.

This procedure will only partially correct the visual defect present in a patient suffering from keratoconus,hence spectacles or in some cases other forms of refractive surgery are usually still required to obtain the best vision.

The procedure is quite new so long term effects are unknown,and some times vision after surgery can be reduced compared to what it was like before surgery. Video of this procedure (not for squeamish!)



The procedure of intacs is often combined with the CR-3 procedure see here

Other Eye Surgery Procedures

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