How to Avoid Suction Loss in SMILE surgery
SMILE surgery is becoming a global trend in vision correction surgery due to its minimal corneal damage and quick recovery time. However, some people worry about the occurrence of suction loss during the procedure. Today, we will explore what suction loss is, why it’s a concern in SMILE surgery, and the ways to handle and prevent it.
What is Suction Loss?
SMILE surgery involves the use of a laser to create a small lenticule inside the cornea, which is then removed to correct vision. To ensure precise laser application and effective vision correction, an eye fixation device gently presses on the eye and uses suction to stabilize it and control eye movements. Suction loss occurs when this stabilization pressure is unexpectedly released.
Causes of Suction Loss in SMILE surgery
Suction loss is quite rare, occurring in approximately 2% of cases. It is typically caused by excessive patient anxiety leading to unstable eye movements or by the patient squeezing their eyes shut forcefully. Although the fixation device helps prevent eye closure during the laser application, strong forces or movements can cause the device to lose its grip. In very rare cases, insufficient removal of moisture from the eye after pre-surgery cleansing can also lead to suction loss.
How to Handle Suction Loss During SMILE surgery
Patients often worry about whether the surgery can continue if suction loss occurs. Experienced medical professionals may choose to resume the procedure as SMILE surgery. Alternatively, they might switch to a different method like LASEK, depending on the stage of the procedure and their judgment. According to a 2014 study from Singapore, proper handling of suction loss ensures that final vision outcomes are unaffected. Over the years, researchers and surgeons have advanced techniques for managing suction loss. They have continually refined surgical processes and responses through shared experiences and knowledge from research and conferences. As a result, the incidence of suction loss has decreased.
Preventing Suction Loss in SMILE surgery
There’s no need to worry about suction loss if you avoid making sudden movements or squeezing your eyes shut. The surgical bed connected to the laser equipment maintains pressure in real-time during the procedure. Maintaining patient focus is crucial for preventing suction loss. The surgeon completes SMILE surgery in less than 30 seconds, which helps reduce patient stress compared to other methods.
SMILE PRO: Enhanced Surgical Safety with Shorter Laser Time
SMILE PRO is a newly upgraded procedure using the VisuMax 800 device from ZEISS, addressing previous limitations of SMILE surgery. It reduces laser exposure time to just 10 seconds, the shortest among current vision correction surgeries, which helps maintain patient focus and further minimizes the risk of suction loss. Additionally, the faster laser speed reduces corneal thermal damage, lowering the risk of infection and promoting faster recovery.
SMILE PRO is gaining attention as a high-satisfaction vision correction surgery due to its rapid laser application and high safety. However, excellent vision correction results depend on where you get the procedure done.
Why Choose B&VIIT for SMILE surgery?
B&VIIT has performed over 100,000 SMILE surgery surgeries, proving its leadership in the field. With 31 years of comprehensive experience, B&VIIT has clear surgical standards and numerous case studies, enabling swift and appropriate responses in various situations. For high-satisfaction results in vision correction, visit B&VIIT and select the most suitable vision correction method through the B&VIIT AI vision correction program, which has learned from over 600,000 surgical cases.