Undoubtedly every patient and eye surgeon would want to accomplish the desired visual correction in the very first refractive surgery procedure. Surgeons typically conduct a comprehensive preoperative examination to determine whether the patient is a viable surgery candidate, and in order to predict the results of the refractive surgery. But unfortunately, it is difficult to accurately predict results in the case of higher refractive errors. Things gone awry during the preoperative examination or during the surgery itself may necessitate an enhancement surgery.



On certain occasions, the patient could well do without an enhancement surgery. Minor undercorrection and overcorrection can be treated through a technique called CLAPIKS (Contact Lens Assisted Pharmacologically Induced Kerato Steepening), which uses Rigid Gas Permeable (RGP) contact lenses to reshape the cornea and eye drops to make the cornea more malleable. However, other major issues may typically require enhancement surgery.

Even if your eye surgeon gives you the slightest hint of the requirement of an enhancement surgery, it is advised that you don’t hastily demand enhancement re-treatment. You must wait for the eyes to settle down to a fixed refraction, before you decide on having an enhancement. Most enhancements are carried out between 3 and 6 months after the first eye surgery. This is because it is common for the eye to regress back to a fixed refractive error, and enhancement should not be performed until the regression has resolved.

A hyperopic patient is more difficult to predictably correct via surgery when compared with a myopic patient. And therefore, a hyperopic patent is more likely to require an enhancement surgery. If your initial eye surgery was LASIK or IntraLASIK, the surgeon would typically lift the existing flap and cut out the corneal surface at the location of the original flap. Though the LASIK flap adheres to the stroma, it can still be lifted, thereby averting the need to create a new flap.

With the advances in laser technology and an increase in the experience of eye surgeons, enhancement cases have significantly dropped. However, some cases might still occur that necessitate enhancement surgery.

Enhancement surgery is not something to be anxious about, since an enhancement surgery would typically accomplish the desired results, which were somehow missed during the first surgery.

If you find a LASIK surgeon that you are confident with, you will be able to get more information about eye enhancement surgery.