Thread: Recurrent corneal erosion

Can it not be repaired with a LASER, I had a torn cornea after cataract surgery, fixed it with LASER took about 30 seconds, I also have dry eye syndrome, (lots of Poly tears)

Originally Posted by China

Can it not be repaired with a LASER, I had a torn cornea after cataract surgery, fixed it with LASER took about 30 seconds, I also have dry eye syndrome, (lots of Poly tears)

Very likely. A couple of years ago I was booked in for laser ablation/debridement surgery - the standard treatment. In this procedure they scrape off the epithelium layer and then scarify the layer underneath with a laser to allow the new epithelium to grip onto the layer underneath better as it grows back. I went in for a briefing a couple of days before and I asked the surgeon how we were going to manage the post-operation period, bearing in mind the dry-eye syndrome would simply continue to rip the epithelium off each time I tried to go to sleep (which was happening 2 or 3 times each night at that time). He seemed to have no idea - or at least no capacity to put his ideas across. With great reluctance I bailed out - I couldn’t go ahead with something without any understanding of how the recovery process would proceed.

Since then I’ve talked to several specialists (3 or more) who have advised me not to undergo the surgery - without really being clear why. I suspect they were hinting that the chances of meaningful improvement were slight, but were reluctant to criticise their professional colleagues. I really don’t know.

Anyway, the surgery option is not completely off the table. That’s why I put this post here - hoping to open a dialogue and maybe talk to others who have had successful surgery - or even unsuccessful, or who manage the problem in some other way.

China, can you tell us more about your situation. Was the cornea damage recurrent and how did it interact with the dry eyes? How did the recovery period proceed in your case?

Cheers
Arron

Hi Arron, seems my situation is a bit different, my dry eye syndrome was not the cause it was a complication of Cataract surgery ( not uncommon ) detached cornea at the edge, to put it simply it was welded back with few zaps of a green LASER, until now ( after five years ) I have had no after affects and there was no recovery, however in the last week I have started to see for want of better description lights a the edge of my eye, so I'm heading off to my ophthalmologist.