gms | German Medical Science

Objective: Initial reports on femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery describe results that cannot be achieved with classic phacoemulsification. The question is, whether this new technique is perhaps too time consuming and too costly.

Method: A brief outline will explain the time involved as well as critically addressing the recurring arguments, since, as with any new method, scientific evidence of the benefits offered by femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery is lacking.

Result: Neither the nature of the arguments, nor the virtually identical reasoning in favour of femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery, are really anything new. Instead, they are very much reminiscent of the intensive discussions that ensued when phacoemulsification was introduced 40 years ago. And today we all know what the outcome of these discussions was!

Conclusion: On the positive side, femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery delivers a high degree of safety and reproducibility; on the negative side, costs and time are considerably increased. Only the patient can, and shall, bring this discussion to a conclusion in the coming years, as was the case 40 years ago.