Eyeworld

50 | EYEWORLD | SUMMER 2024 R EFRACTIVE like the idea of seeing without reading glasses as well,'" he said, adding that these patients tend to lean to custom lens replacement. Sim- ilarly, that patient who's always come in for LASIK, they come in because they heard an ad about EVO ICL, he said, adding that many peo- ple haven't heard of the ICL before, even though it's been an option for many years. Dr. Williamson said his previous market- ing centered on LASIK, and now he's trying to market EVO ICL and custom lens replacement. "This is not because we're down on LASIK," he said. "We love LASIK. It's more about offering these people something else. They've heard about what we do over and over for 20 years. You don't have to advertise LASIK anymore. What's better is to advertise other things you're doing. Give them something else, something new, something they've never heard of, some- thing they can Google that peaks their interest." As a result of marketing other technologies, Dr. Williamson also thinks this will increase LASIK volumes as well. "I think because we marketed these other procedures and some people were a –1 or –2 and they could only have LASIK," he said. "But at least I had the opportunity to have them in the chair and explain the benefits of modern LASIK, and if they had any hesitancy, I could try to understand that and advise them so they could make the right decision." For patients who are around –1 up to –3, they can only have LASIK, Dr. Williamson said, adding that the ICL starts around –3. For a younger patient, someone in their 20s, Dr. Williamson said he might recommend an ICL because chances are they're going to have some refractive drift as they age. You can then do primary LASIK later, he said, instead of trying to lift an old flap or do PRK. In an older patient who is myopic, Dr. Williamson said he might lean toward doing LASIK if he's antici- pating doing a lens replacement for presbyopia in the near future. For someone with dry eye or a thinner cornea, Dr. Williamson is looking for any reason why LASIK might not be the per- fect solution and the ICL would be the perfect solution. If they're perfect for both an ICL and LASIK, we'll offer both, and I'll give pluses and minuses, Dr. Williamson said, adding that some patients like the removability of the ICL. Other times they like that their parents had LASIK, and it worked great, and that's the procedure they know and that's what they want. "We're doing more ICLs and lens replace- ment than we've ever done, and I think that's catching on in our community and our state," Dr. Williamson said, adding that he sees many out-of-town patients coming to him for these procedures. "They're seeing ads on social media and hearing us talk about EVO ICL, and a lot of time, they don't have any doctors in their town doing it." Lance Kugler, MD Dr. Kugler has also seen a shift in his practice regarding LASIK volumes. "I think the data from the Refractive Surgery Council is the most accurate data available on LASIK volumes in the U.S. because it is anonymously audited data from the manufacturers, and it reflects the actu- al number of procedures that are being done," he said. While the numbers are down from a year ago, he said there's more to it. If we look at our own data, we're seeing a pretty substantial shift from LASIK to IOL-based procedures, such as ICLs, and refractive lens exchange, Dr. Kugler continued from page 49 Dr. Williamson implants the first Tecnis Odyssey toric IOL (Johnson & Johnson Vision), which is now his lens of choice for the custom lens replacement procedure. Source: Blake Williamson, MD

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