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O P H T H A L M O L O G Y
MIDDLE GROUND
Performing LASIK? You're Halfway There
and his partners at
Northeastern Eye
Institute in Scranton, Pa.,
looked into purchasing a femtosecond laser cataract system, but balked at investing
$500,000 in the new technolo-
Northeastern Eye Institute
T
homas Boland, MD,
EYE ON COSTS
You can use your
existing LASIK
laser to do bladeless cataract surgery, says Thomas
Boland, MD.
gy. They instead opted to use the center's IntraLase laser, which they already owned
for LASIK and corneal transplant procedures, to make cataract incisions.
Dr. Boland says IntraLase lasers make 3-plane incisions, so "they're very tight, very
secure and less prone to wound leaks." Surgeons program the laser to make incisions of any shape. "You control astigmatisms a little better if you can control the incision size more accurately."
He believes the technique is a middle ground between conservative surgeons who
still believe in the tried-and-true success of manual cataract surgery and forwardthinking docs who tout the benefits of femtosecond lasers.
"Cataract surgeons have many tools at their disposal," says Dr. Boland. "This is a
tool we happened to already have." Insurers don't yet pay for the use of lasers during
cataract procedures, so the cost must be passed on to patients if they're paying outof-pocket for upgrades such as premium IOLs and astigmatism correction. Because
Dr. Boland's facility already owned the IntraLase laser, he's able to offer the technoloN O V E M B E R 2012 | O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E
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