Stitches and Astigmatism

[Grifteruk]

Hello All,

I had my left eye fitted with INTACS SK one week ago today. I only had one intac put into the lower part of my eye as i had an inferiorly placed cone. Apparently this is supposed to give better results.

I am pleased to say no pain or discomfort at all and in fact i can't feel anything in my eye at all - even the stitches which are still in there. Also i dont think i am having any effects like halos and glare. I can see the INTACS but it doesnt seem to bother me too much. However the vision is not much better than it was before the op at the moment and i dont think that glasses are going to help, will need to have new hard lens but have to wait 4 weeks for that!!

Some things are better. i have a projection clock and i can read that quite clearly on my bedroom ceiling in the morning now - before it was just a blur and i had to squint badly to try and read it. I am taking that as a positive sign!

Had a quick eye test on Sunday to compare post op to pre op. I know that its not really worth much as its early days but could not resist.

Pre Op Eye was SPH: -5.00 CYL: -4.50 AXIS: 94.0

Post Op it was SPH +3.25 CYL: -5.00 AXIS 150

My query is whether anyone else has been told that the stitches in your eye can affect the astigmatism? My optom thinks that when they are removed this may help with the astigmatism because they may be "pulling" the eye slightly? Any ideas?

PS as an aside my specialist did the INTACS on my eye despite the thinnest part of my eye being only 334m thick. He works on the principle that the INTACS is going into a significantly thicker part of the cornea and he was right. When he did the readings (i had local anesthetic) he read out the readings at between 535m and 591m where the INTACS was fitted. Apparently he has done this a number of times without any problem.

[Andrew MacLean]

Grifter

Yes, I think it is fairly well established that sutures in the eye can create or affect an astigmatism. In fact after transplants the surgeons often selectively remove sutures to influence the way in which the eventual astigmatism will settle down.

All the best

Andrew