Laser Eye Surgery: The Benefits of Iridotomy

Should your eye doctor notice that you have narrow angles when examining your ocular structure, he may determine you are at possible risk for angle-closure glaucoma, a sudden and painful onset of the disease. Angle-closure glaucoma can also come on slowly and surely in some cases. To prevent this from happening, some doctors recommend iridotomy, which is a laser eye surgery that can correct the problem and prevent the glaucoma from occurring.

It should be noted that only certain patients with narrow angles will go on to suffer from angle-closure glaucoma. More precise tests must be done to differentiate between the patients who likely will or probably will not. If you go through with the specialized examination and the doctor recommends laser eye surgery, it is probably in your best interests to listen to that advice. The iridotomy itself is relatively painless and non-invasive-perhaps even more so than PRK or LASIK. Certainly the recovery time will be shorter. Still, no one likes the thought of getting any kind of surgery if it isn't completely justified, so here are some answers for inquiring minds.

You may be wondering if laser eye surgery can prevent angle-closure glaucoma in all cases. The answer is no. Angle closure can happen for a couple of different reasons. Sometimes it is caused by simply being born with a certain eye shape. As the individual ages, gravity presses down on the angles and causes them to narrow. Others are caused by tumors that grow just behind the iris. Still others reach this point because of inflammation over a period of many years, which can lead to a buildup of scar tissue. Those with the eye shape cause usually respond quite well to the surgery. Those in the other categories typically do not.

Some patients also wonder if laser eye surgery of this type will affect their vision. It is certainly not intended for that purpose and will do nothing to improve your vision. It seldom affects the vision in any way, but some people do report blurry vision for a time following the procedure. It should be reiterated that this is quite rare.

The key, of course, to successful laser eye surgery is to find an experienced doctor who knows what the are doing. Look for those doctors who seem to revel in having the best, most advanced equipment, because those are the ones who are keeping up with the latest technology and techniques and staying on top of the field.