Can I have a laser enhancement after Refractive Lens Exchange Surgery?

During refractive lens exchange (RLE) the natural lens in your eye is removed and replaced with a lens implant that permanently corrects your vision. You can never develop cataracts after refractive lens exchange. The procedure is the same as the cataract operation and takes around 15-20 minutes for each eye with patients going home the same day.

There are a choice of lens implant available; multi-focal lenses which can correct both your near and far vision, mono-focal lenses which correct either near or distance vision and toric lens implants which correct astigmatism.

Some people may find they have not achieved satisfactory vision after their RLE surgery.
If this is due to a residual prescription, then there is the option of laser enhancement to refine the outcome.

After RLE surgery your vision may take a while to settle so it is best to wait until a residual prescription is stable before correcting it with a laser enhancement procedure. If needed, this can be done with either the LASIK or LASEK methods of laser eye surgery. As a general rule, it is best to wait a minimum of 3 months prior to undergoing a laser enhancement procedure.

At OCL, our surgeons have specialist training in refractive surgery and as such have expertise in both lens exchange surgery as well as laser vision correction. This means that should the need arise to manage a residual prescription, this can be performed in house.

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