CLAPIKS

Contact Lens Assisted Pharmacologically Induced Kerato Steepening (CLAPIKS) is a process to correct residual hyperopia, (farsighted, longsighted) myopia, (nearsighted, shortsighted) and possibly astigmatism after conventional or custom wavefront Lasik, All-Laser Lasik, PRK, LASEK, Epi-Lasik, RK, or similar laser assisted refractive surgery with the use of extended wear contact lenses and the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) Acular (ketorolac tromethamine, Allergan). This is an off label use of the eye drops.

Surgeons have successfully treated hyperopic overcorrection following Lasik, LASEK, PRK, Epi-Lasik, and RK, by molding the cornea with a tight fitting contact lens and Acular. CLAPIKS has shown to be effective on patients who have been overcorrected by 0.50 to 3.00 diopters of hyperopia following refractive surgery. This is a new technique and doctors are still discovering its application and limitations.

There is some concern about NSAID's side effects of corneal melting. Allergan has not reported melting in people with normal corneas. CLAPIKS has initially been used only with Acular, but other NSAIDs may be appropriate. Patients with collagen diseases or other corneal melt problems should not be treated with this technique.

The process usually takes several weeks of continued contact lens fitting and use of the drug before significant refractive change is achieved. Click CLAPIKS for a copy of the CLAPIKS protocol, suitable for an eye doctor. To view this file, you must have Acrobat Reader.

If you are ready to choose a doctor to be evaluated for conventional or custom wavefront Lasik, All-Laser Lasik, PRK, LASEK, Epi-Lasik, NearVision CK, RLE, or any refractive surgery procedure, we highly recommend you consider a doctor who has been evaluated and certified by the USAEyes nonprofit organization. Locate a USAEyes Evaluated & Certified Lasik Laser Eye Surgery Doctor.

If this article did not fully answer your questions, use our free Ask Lasik Expert patient forum.

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Current Corneal Steepening Medical Journal News...

International rigid contact lens prescribing.

Related Articles

International rigid contact lens prescribing.

Cont Lens Anterior Eye. 2009 Dec 22;

Authors: Efron N, Morgan PB, Helland M, Itoi M, Jones D, Nichols JJ, van der Worp E, Woods CA

Rigid lenses have been fitted less since the introduction of soft lenses nearly 40 years ago. Data that we have gathered from annual contact lens fitting surveys conducted in Australia, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, the UK and the USA between 2000 and 2008 facilitate an accurate characterization of the pattern of the decline of rigid lens fitting during the first decade of this century. There is a trend for rigid lenses to be utilized primarily for refitting those patients who are already successful rigid lens wearers-most typically older females being refit with higher Dk materials. Rigid lenses are generally fitted on a full-time basis (four or more days of wear per week) without a planned replacement schedule. Orthokeratology is especially popular in the Netherlands, but is seldom prescribed in the other countries surveyed.

PMID: 20034841 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]