For the primary keratoconus patient who has 20/40 vision for only a few hours a day due to painful contact lens wear, Intacs® are the new standard of care. Intacs® corneal implants can now potentially defer the need for a corneal transplant.
Historically, doctors didn’t have a choice. Once a patient became intolerant of contact lenses or glasses, their only option was to undergo a corneal transplant. Today, surgeons around the world are choosing a less invasive standard of care and achieving excellent results with Intacs® corneal implants.
Intacs® corneal implants are a Canada Health approved option for the keratoconus patient experiencing some degree of intolerance to contact lenses who could some day need a corneal transplant. Intacs corneal implants may be the best possible option to stabilize the cornea, improve vision and potentially defer the need for a transplant.
It is also useful for individuals with keratoconus who want to improve their present vision with or without contact lenses or possibly switch from hard contact lenses to soft.
Bense Vision uses the iFS-IntraLase™ laser for making the channels to insert the plastic segments. We also use the manual (Prolate) technique when needed. The Prolate mechanical technique involves using metal blades, so the IntraLase system is safer.
Intacs® corneal implants are also indicated for use in the correction of nearsightedness and astigmatism associated with keratoconus where contact lenses and glasses are no longer well tolerated.
Goal of Intacs®:
- To help restore contact lens tolerance
- Delays a corneal transplant indefinitely in some cases
- To restore functional vision with contact lenses and or spectacles. In most instances, Intacs® improves the best able vision of the patient by helping to correct the myopia and astigmatism in patients with keratoconus. It is not designed to make patients spectacle independent as with LASIK and or PRK.
