Night Driving Performance: Advantage ICLs over PRK

People considering LASIK may have heard about the possibility of night vision effects, such as halos, star bursts, and other visual artifacts. Impaired night vision is one of the most common complaints people have about LASIK and other refractive surgery procedures. Now, a study has confirmed that another vision correction option gives potentially better night vision results than one type of refractive laser surgery.

A study published in the May 2010 Journal of Refractive Surgery showed that phakic IOLs, sometimes called implantable contact lenses, gave better night vision for driving than PRK.

The study put 42 individuals (20 who had Visian ICLs (Implantable Collamer Lenses) and 22 who had PRK) in driving simulators before and after surgery and compared their preoperative and postoperative recognition and reaction times for street signs and hazards. ICL patients had significantly better improvement in recognizing road and business signs and pedestrian hazards in glare free conditions. In conditions with glare, ICL patients only had significantly better reaction times for pedestrian hazards. The study showed that, overall, patients saw a better than half-second improvement in their reaction times after ICL surgery than before.

Although the study results are significant, one wonders why the researchers decided to compare PRK with ICL rather than LASIK.

To learn more about the full range of vision correction options, please contact the LASIK directory for more information.

Implantable Contact Lenses

Implantable contact lenses offer patients another option to correct refractive errors in their vision. The procedure is very safe and has been around for more than 15 years, although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) only approved it for use in the United States a few years ago.

There are many people who are not ideal candidates for LASIK surgery due to overly thin corneas, abnormally shaped corneas, or having too strong of a prescription. Implantable contact lenses provide patients who cannot undergo LASIK with an ability to correct their vision and get rid of their glasses or contacts once and for all.

Implantable contact lenses are made from an organic collagen-based protein material called Collamer. They are thin, pliable, and undetectable to others once placed in your eye. Since they are permanently implanted in your eye, they reduce the risk of infection commonly associated with regular contact lenses.

The procedure can be performed on an outpatient basis and takes about 30 minutes to complete. It is similar to cataract surgery, except you will not have your natural lens removed. Patients are awake throughout the entire procedure and are given a topical anesthetic to numb the eye. Your ophthalmologist will make an incision three millimeters wide in your cornea. The implantable contact lens will then be inserted into your eye. It is placed behind the iris and in front of your eye's natural lens.

The healing process takes about a month. Patients generally see an improvement in their vision within a few hours. You will not require stitches for the incision, and you will be able to return to work the next day. You will need to use eye drops for approximately three weeks after having surgery.

You can use the links at the bottom of this page to find a qualified ophthalmologist in your area.