Radial keratotomy (RK) is a type of eye surgery used to correct myopia (nearsightedness). It works by changing the shape of the cornea-the transparent part of the eye that covers the iris and the pupil.
According to Pritish Kumar Halder, Hundreds of thousands of patients have undergone radial keratotomy (RK) for the correction of myopia since its introduction in the 1970s.
About 25-30% of all people in the world are nearsighted and need eyeglasses or contact lenses for distance vision to be clear. For a number of reasons, some people don’t like wearing corrective lenses. Some feel unattractive in eyeglasses. Others worry about not being able to see without their glasses in an emergency, such as a house fire or a burglary. Both glasses and contact lenses can be scratched, broken, or lost. In addition, contact lenses require special care and can irritate the eyes.
It is most successful in patients with a low to moderate amount of nearsightedness-people whose eyes require up to -5.00 diopters of correction. A diopter (D) is a unit of measure of focusing power. Minus lenses correct nearsightedness.
radial-keratotomy
Precautions
Not every nearsighted person is a good candidate for radial keratotomy. This type of surgery cannot help people whose nearsightedness is caused by keratoconus, a rare condition in which the cornea is cone shaped. The procedure usually is not done on patients under 18, because their eyes are still growing and changing shape.
It is important that visual status is stable. Women who are pregnant, have just given birth, or are breast-feeding should not have the surgery because hormonal changes may cause temporary changes in the cornea. In addition, anyone with glaucoma or with any disease that interferes with healing should not have RK.
Radial keratotomy weakens the cornea, making it vulnerable to injuries even long after the surgery. Getting hit in the head after having RK can cause the cornea to tear and can lead to blindness. For this reason, the procedure is not recommended for people who engage in sports that could result in a blow to the head.
Preparation
Before beginning the procedure, the surgeon marks an area in the center of the cornea called the optical zone. This is the part of the cornea that one sees through (it is the area over the pupil). No cuts are made in this region. The surgeon also measures the cornea’s thickness, to decide how deep the slits should be.
Procedure
In a person with clear vision, light passes through the cornea and the lens of the eye and focuses on a membrane lining the back of the eye called the retina. In a person with myopia, the eyeball is usually too long, so light focuses in front of the retina. Radial keratotomy reduces myopia by flattening the cornea. This reduces the focusing power of the cornea allowing light to focus further back onto the retina (or at least closer to it), forming a clearer image.
A surgeon performing RK uses a very small diamond-blade knife to makes four to eight radial incisions around the edge of the cornea. These slits are made in a pattern that resembles the spokes of wheel. As the cornea heals, its center flattens out.
Radial keratotomy is usually performed in an ophthalmologist’s office. Before the surgery begins, the patient may be given medicine to help him or her relax. A local anesthetic-usually in the form of eye drops-is used to numb the eye, but the patient remains conscious during the procedure. The surgeon looks through a surgical microscope while making the slits. The treatment usually takes no more than 30 minutes.
Some ophthalmologists will perform RK on both eyes at once but others prefer to do one eye at a time. It once was thought that surgeons could use the results of the first eye to predict how the well the procedure would work on the second eye. However, a study published in 1997 found that this was not the case. The authors of the study cautioned that there might be other reasons not to operate on both eyes at once, such as increased risk of infection and other complications.
Aftercare
After the surgery is over, the anesthetic wears off. Some patients feel slight pain and are given eye drops and medications to relieve their discomfort. For several days after the surgery, the eye that was treated may feel scratchy and look red. This is normal. The eye may also water, burn slightly, and be sensitive to light.
As with any type of surgery, it is important to guard against infection. Patients are given eye drops to protect against infection and may be told to use them for several weeks after the surgery. Because RK weakens the cornea it is important to protect the head and eyes.
The cornea heals slowly, and full recovery can take several months (another reason not to have the surgery done on both eyes at the same time). While the cornea is healing, patients may experience these problems:
Variations in vision. Eyesight may be better in the morning than in the evening or vice versa.
- Temporary pain.
- Increased glare.
- Starburst or halo effects. Rays or rings of light around lights at night.
- Hyperopic shift. As the cornea flattens, vision may become more farsighted (hyperopic). For this reason, the surgeon may initially undercorrect the patient. This gradual shift may occur over several years.
Risks
Complications from RK are rare, but they can occur. These include:
- cataract a clouding of the lens of the eye, resulting in partial or total loss of vision
- serious infection
- lasting pain
- rips along an incision, especially after being hit in the head or eye
- loss of vision
- chance of overcorrection (hyperopic shift)
- The chances of complications are reduced when the surgery is done by an ophthalmologist with a lot of experience in RK. Younger patients also tend to heal faster.
If RK does not completely correct a person’s nearsightedness, glasses or contact lenses may be needed. In general, people who were able to wear contact lenses before the procedure can still wear them afterward. Even patients whose nearsightedness was corrected may still need glasses for reading. This is especially true for middle-aged and older patients. The lens of the eye stiffens with age, making reading glasses necessary (presbyopia ). Radial keratotomy does not correct this problem.
The surgeon who performs the RK procedure will tell the patient how often to return for follow-up visits. Often, two to four visits are needed, including one the day after surgery. It is also important to know what side effects should be reported immediately to the surgeon.
