SINGAPORE : Those who want to correct Lasik jobs gone wrong can do so with a "newer and more accurate" corrective laser treatment offered by a local hospital.

The National University Hospital (NUH) is offering a corrective treatment that caters to Lasik patients who had de-centred procedures, which lead to side effects such as halos and glares.

Touted as the most "reliable" topographic-guided laser in correcting "not so perfect laser treatments", the NUH said its machine re-surfaces the "waves and bumps" in the cornea.

According to a Ministry of Health information paper published last December, Singapore's Lasik surgeries are highly successful and safe, with rates exceeding 98 per cent.

However, the study was unable to quantify the quality of vision - such as whether there are visual distortions, starbursts or glares - following Lasik surgery because of a lack of data.

The head of NUH's Lasik and Refractive Surgery, Dr Lennard Thean, estimated that "a few out of a thousand" who go for Lasik end up with de-centred treatments, either because of older generation machines or the patient's eye movement during surgery.

The Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) has also said that it may see one or two such cases a year.

Patients who suffered de-centred treatments tend to have longer-term "aberrations" in their quality of vision which can range from "mild dazzling" to "incapacitating", Dr Thean said.

Symptoms such as halos, glares and ghosting are common after Lasik treatments but they usually disappear after about three months.

But some last longer - as in the case of a 25-year-old who had to live for three years with halos and glares following his initial Lasik treatment in 2004.

He sought corrective treatment in March with NUH and has since reported improvements in his right eye.

"Had I been advised back then of possibilities in upcoming technologies, I would have postponed my decision," he told Channel NewsAsia.

Costing about $1,800 per eye, NUH's latest treatment is 30 per cent pricier than standard Lasik corrective surgeries.

Asia HealthPartners' consultant eye surgeon, Dr Lynn Yeo, added that those interested in getting Lasik treatments should "read up about Lasik and not just choose the cheapest one" in order to reduce the chances of needing re-treatments.

She warned that "Lasik is a victim of its own success" and that people who opt for "off-the-rack" and "budget" Lasik have a higher chance of getting de-centred jobs and other complications.

Optometrist Stan Isaacs added: "Every time you correct the distortion of the cornea, you need to remove more cornea tissue and there's only so much cornea one has to start with".

Lasik may not be advisable for those with "very thin corneas or those with cornea problems", he added.

SNEC resumes Lasik operations

The SNEC, which stopped its Lasik operations for over a month because of a spike in the number of inflammation cases, resumed its services as of April 9.

It had earlier stopped all Lasik operations in early March, after 17 patients in two days reported inflammation following surgery. While the inflammations were not dangerous in all the cases, the centre decided against doing any more such operations until all equipment had been inspected.

It was the first time the centre had suspended its Lasik procedure since it began offering it in 1996. - TODAY