stat tracker
Trends in Refractive Surgery: The 2002 ISRS Survey

Each year for the past 6 years, Richard J. Duffey, M.D., of Mobile, Ala., and David Leaming, M.D., of Palm Springs, Calif., have surveyed the U.S. membership of the International Society of Refractive Surgery (ISRS) to collect data on surgeons' preferences relating to such key issues as favored procedures, choice of lasers, and the potential of custom ablation.

"Understandably, we didn't get strong responses on the value of wavefront-guided treatment and custom ablation in 2002," says Dr. Duffey. "I'm eager to conduct the 2003 survey because it will be the first year in which many surgeons will have had experience doing significant numbers of these procedures."

2002 ISRS Survey Conclusions

• LASIK is the clear procedure of choice for correcting visual errors ranging from -12D to +3D.
• LASIK, LASEK, CLE, phakic IOLs, CK and PRK all appear to have bright futures as vision correction procedures.
• RK, LTK and Intacs corneal rings (ICR) are being abandoned by refractive surgeons, though Intacs is currently being studied as a potential treatment for keratoconus.
• Sixty-one percent of surgeons responding to the survey say VISX is the excimer laser they use most often.
• In what is shaping up as a medical/legal consideration, about two-thirds of refractive surgeons now use an instrument instead of a card to measure (and document) pupil size.
• In the 2002 survey, surgeons didn't yet have definite opinions on what wavefront diagnostic technology and custom ablation could mean for refractive surgery.

*LASEK and CK have registered the greatest growth in interest since the 2000 ISRS survey.
**In the 2000 ISRS survey, 67% of respondents were either interested in or doing LTK, 45% were interested in or doing ICR (Intacs), and 22% were interested in or doing RK.

About this data: The responses included in this survey result from a mailing to 900 U.S. members of ISRS in 2002. A total of 107 responses were received, representing 12% of the U.S. ISRS membership. The 2002 survey was the last involving only ISRS members. With the recent merger of the ISRS and the American Academy of Ophthalmology's Refractive Surgery Interest Group (RSIG), the 2003 survey will include responses from members of both organizations.