What level of vision will I have after refractive lens exchange surgery?

When you think of good eyesight 20/20 vision comes to everyone’s mind as the renowned standard of visual acuity. Having 20/20 vision means you can see at a distance of 20 feet what ‘normal-sighted’ people can see from the same distance. As a comparison if you are told you have 20/100 vision this means you can see at a distance of 20 feet what a ‘normal-sighted’ person should see at a 100 feet from the chart which in turn means poor vision.

The measurement is based on the Snellen Chart (the usual black and white eye chart found on the wall of opticians which lists lines of letters decreasing in size). This chart has become increasingly digitised in most practices so instead of a chart, a screen is used. The world populations’ average result from The Snellen chart is what ‘normal’ eye sight is based on.

Can you fully expect to achieve 20/20 vision after undergoing RLE surgery?

The answer to this question depends on a vast number of factors. These factors include your prescription before surgery, the type of lenses chosen, the clinic you choose to undergo your surgery and the surgeon performing your surgery. It also depends on any residual prescription and how much this affects the vision.

When researching RLE surgery and the clinics that offer the surgery it’s important to look at their results.

Whilst no surgery is risk free, results can give you a good idea of the likelihood of a good outcome as well as the risk of complications.

Given the safety profile of the surgery, the vast majority of patients achieve the driving standard of vision or better following surgery.