Astigmatism is a common optical imperfection of the eye which most of us have in some degree.  This typically happens when the surface of the eye, called the cornea, isn’t spherical like a baseball, but rather is shaped more like a football.  It is not a serious problem and normally glasses are used to straighten and clear the warped image.  Astigmatism normally does not change much through life but can be increased with any operation on the front of the eye, such as clear lens exchange surgery.

During the course of your clear lens surgery, a procedure known as astigmatic keratotomy can be used to correct pre-existing astigmatism as well as to limit the amount of astigmatism produced by the surgery itself.  This involves the placement of one or two small partial thickness incisions in the cornea.  These incisions do not extend through the cornea and are made with diamond blades to allow them to be extremely fine and heal rapidly.  Sometimes these will be placed adjacent to the full thickness corneal incision, which must be made for your cataract surgery.  Sometimes they will be placed in separate locations.  At no time, however, are they placed near the centre of the cornea, which is the part important for transmission of light.

You can think of the astigmatic keratotomy as being a refinement of the optical results of your clear lens exchange surgery.

In addition to the surgical option of Astigmatic Keratotomy we now have astigmatism correcting lens implants called Toric Lenses.  As part of your “Custom Vision Correction” these lens options will be discussed with you and a recommendation will be made as to what type of treatment will provide the best visual results given your unique prescription, needs, and surgical plan.  As you know, neither Clear Lens Exchange or these customized options are a covered benefit of your provincial health plan and the costs of each will be clearly presented to you so you can make an educated and informed choice about which procedure will be best for you.

If you have any questions about either the procedures or the costs of each, please ask one of our staff to explain this to you further.