Patient’s qestions about laser surgery article

 

Dear Dr. Chynn,
I am Xian Zhuang(Emily) who is your patient. I came across an article which basically saying that “Summer” is the worst season to do eye Lasik. Would you please tell me that which is *the best month* in your opinion to do eye lasik. It seems that *high temperature and humidity* really is not good for eye lasik.
The article also says:
The number of eyes requiring an enhancement procedure ranged from 0 percent in the winter months to 50 percent in September, when outdoor humidity was at its highest. During less-humid months, there was a tendency to overcorrect vision. During the more humid summer months, there was a tendency toward undercorrection.
Walter said additional moisture in the air may decrease the laser energy absorbed by the stroma, the thickest layer of tissue in the cornea. Also, some patients’ corneas may become more hydrated before the procedure, making it more difficult for the laser to remove tissue.
Walter found that a 10 percent increase in treatment room humidity meant an additional nine out of every 100 patients required an enhancement procedure. Results also were influenced by outdoor temperatures and humidity in the weeks before surgery, said Walter, *with more enhancement surgeries required during the humid summer months.*

– Emily

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Emily,

Yeah this is a really stupid, older article by the guy who i replaced as a fellow in 2006 at emory university and was refuted by many other studies, all you have to do is control temp and humidity in OR (which we do) and there is no seasonal variation in outcomes

yours,
Emil William Chynn, MD FACS MBA

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Dear Dr. Chynn,
Thank you for the reply. Why do you have to control the humidity in OR since you are saying that there is seasonal variation in outcomes.

you are mistaken, there is no seasonal variation in outcomes as long as you control temp and humidity in OR, that is what i am trying to explain to you

Plus, why do you ask your patient to get the humidifier

to promote healing this is explained in your directions

As my understanding, it seems more humidiier, your eyes will swell, so if you are nearsighted, it will undercorrect your eyes. So if the outside humidity is high, your eyes get swell already, even if your OR controls the humidity

again, incorrect, only OR humidity matters for outcomes, not humidity outside the OR

Thank you for your response all the time.

Warm Regards,

Emily

This entry was posted on Monday, May 5th, 2008 at 12:27 pm and is filed under Questions for Patients. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.