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Implantable Collamer Lens (ICL) Surgery is an alternative to laser eye surgery and offers the same degree of freedom from glasses & contact lenses. Book a consultation today & take the first step towards better vision.
The EVO Visian ICL® and EVO+ Visian ICL® are a small, highly flexible, biocompatible lens made of advanced Collamer® material that is inserted into the eye and floats in front of the natural lens. They can be used to correct short-sightedness (myopia), long-sightedness (hyperopia) and astigmatism. ICL surgery is an alternative to laser eye surgery and can be used to treat a wide range of spectacle corrections from -0.50DS to -18.00DS of myopia and from +0.50DS to +10.00DS of hyperopia as well as up to +6.00DC of astigmatism. ICLs are often employed when the cornea is too thin to support a high correction or if the cornea is irregular e.g. following a contact lens infection and is unsuitable for laser eye surgery. ICL surgery does not cause dry eye and many patients simply have a preference for this technology over others.
ICL surgery offers the same degree of freedom from glasses and contact lenses as laser eye surgery. Over 1,000,000 ICL procedures have been performed globally and David Anderson has been a certified ICL surgeon for over a decade using them both in primary refractive surgery but also more complex refractive cases e.g. in Keratoconus.
Let’s begin with some of the basics of ICL surgery:
Patients with good ocular health and a stable spectacle or contact lens prescription.
For myopia (short-sightedness)
For hyperopia (long or far-sightedness)
This is not meant to be an exhaustive list but to give you an idea of some of the criteria. When you attend for consultation you will undergo a thorough examination of your eye by David Anderson to determine whether you are suitable and whether this is the best choice for you, if not we will usually be able to offer an alternative.
We usually treat each eye on a separate day within a week.
You can quickly return to normal activities although strenuous exercise and heavy lifting should be avoided for a week. Avoid direct pressure to your eye during this time, we will provide you with a protective shield to wear at night.
You can use screens as soon as your eyes feel comfortable to do so, you cannot strain your eyes through visual effort.
We’d like you to avoid eye make-up for a week following surgery. Any other face make-up can be worn after 48 hours.
Over or under correction – These are the most common complication of any refractive surgical procedure. We perform a thorough examination of your eye prior to surgery to ensure the most accurate correction is applied.
Lens exchange for size – Although different types of accurate measurements are made pre-operatively to correct the correct size of the ICL, the dimensions of the space into which the ICL is placed cannot be visualized directly. This means that occasionally the ICL will need to be replaced with a slightly longer or shorter lens. This will be necessary in around 5% of all cases.
Halos and night glare – All refractive procedures carry the possibility of causing unwanted visual effects such as glare around lights and about 20% of patients will report these although not be troubled by them. You will already experience these in your vision if you have a spectacle correction and look at a point source of light, but will have adapted to them. All patients experience these effects immediately after surgery whilst the eye is healing but they do not persist in most patients.
Damage to the natural crystalline lens – As the ICL is placed inside the eye there is the possibility that it may rest on the natural crystalline lens and cause an opacity or cataract. This is reported in less than 1.5% of procedures but may rarely require removal of both the ICL and crystalline lens and replacement with an artificial lens.
Increase in eye pressure – Rarely, an increase in eye pressure can occur immediately following surgery which may require additional treatment. For this reason we will check the pressure of your eye before you are discharged home. Since the introduction of CentraFLOW® technology this risk is estimated at less than 1%.
Infection – All eye surgical procedures carry a small risk of infection. Due to the quality of our hospital environment and surgeon experience this risk is extremely low, less than 1 in 1000. Although infections are usually treated to complete cure in the majority of cases, it is possible to suffer permanent visual loss. As an added precaution we routinely prescribe antibiotic eye drops for compulsory use after your operation.
Yes, the lens can be removed through the same small entry port through which it was inserted so that the eye is returned to it’s previous state.
As for laser eye surgery, you may have other questions not covered here, so please contact us and ask, we’re only too happy to help. A downloadable brochure about the EVO Vision ICL® is available here.
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