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GP lenses were the successor to early hard contact lenses. They are used only by a minority of contact lens wearers. However, they provide vision quality consistently superior to any that can be achieved with glasses, soft contacts or refractive surgery. For this reason, GP lens wearers need to consider carefully their visual needs, preferences and expectations from laser eye surgery as they have a higher probability than average of trading off vision quality for reduction of dependence on corrective lenses.
Additionally, GP lens wearers need to be cautious about the amount of time their lenses should be removed before their surgery. Several studies have shown that the cornea can continue to reshape itself for many weeks, sometimes months, after removal of a GP lens. Patients may need to have serial topography at regular intervals after removing the lenses so that the doctor can determine when the corneal shape and refractive error has completely stabilised.
For complications patients, GP lenses are the most consistently effective treatment for those with ablation defects such as irregular astigmatism or small optical zones and can be very effective at reducing or eliminating night vision disturbances. They may, however, be challenging to design for some patients, particularly those with decentrations or very flat corneas, and may be difficult to tolerate if the patient also has dry eye syndrome. |
