Until solid results from the studies confirm the reliability of LASIK procedure on children, doctors continue to hold different views on the whether LASIK should be given to younger patients.
For some children, LASIK seems to be the only alternative for better vision. Dr. Robert Maloney, director of the Maloney Vision Institute in Los Angeles, said, "I'm very comfortable recommending LASIK for adolescents who can't wear glasses or contacts for whatever reason and need good vision." Maloney supports his view with several examples of past patients.
A 16-year-old high school football team captain, who could not tolerate contacts and could not wear glasses with his helmet, underwent LASIK and sees fine now. An eight-year-old boy had normal vision in one eye but needed to wear a contact in the other.
Maloney explained, "Unfortunately, he has severe attention deficit disorder, and the contact kept falling out."
"His parents were losing thousands of dollars a year on contact lenses. [LASIK] worked spectacularly. He did better in school. He was able to participate in sports." Out of about 20,000 LASIK surgeries that Maloney has performed, only a tiny portion of the procedures were conducted on children.
LASIK surgery involves the reshaping of a patient's cornea by a doctor with a laser beam.
The eyes continue to grow and change shape until adulthood (age 18). A child who receives LASIK at an early age may need more surgery later on as the eyes continue to alter shape.
Many doctors caution against treating young patients with LASIK except for a serious medical need. The American Academy of Ophthalmology has not yet decided to support LASIK for kids or not. LASIK is not on the way to become a common thing for children who have problems with contacts and glasses. It is too risky to administer LASIK to children merely because they do not like to wear glasses.
Dr. Walter Stark, director of cornea and cataract services at the Wilmer Eye Institute and a professor at John Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, advised, "On a routine basis, we should strongly advice against this."
"Nobody knows what's going to happen to the child's eye. The data are not in for younger people, so the safety has not been documented. This is not something to be promoted."
Dr. Stark mentions that even though the Food and Drug Administration has not officially approved of LASIK surgery on minors, doctors have the discretion to make "compassionate" choices on a case-by-case basis.
Dr. Stark explained, "The LASIK procedure has been promoted so much. People come in and they don't know what it is. Some doctors promote it so much, and they really don't want people to realize it is surgery. This is actually a fairly big surgical procedure on the eyes. It's a major commitment. So you just have to be careful when you are dealing with minor."
Stark is a relatively conservative surgeon because he turns away 60% of the adult patients who come to him for LASIK surgery.
Stark asserted, "Is there a tidal wave of adolescents demanding LASIK for purely cosmetic reasons? No, that's just not happening."
The patients should be fully aware of the consequences and accuracy of LASIK surgery. To find out more about LASIK, visit the Medem Medical Library or take advantage of vision tests from the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus.