Can a child undergo laser vision correction?
A child, that is, a minor cannot undergo laser vision correction. This is not due to the lack of technical capabilities, the inadequacy of laser intervention methods to meet the needs of the youngest patients, or the inadequacy of the skills of the medical staff.
The most important are anatomical reasons. Here they are:
- The eyeball in a child undergoes a great deal of change from birth to about 14 years of age. There are 3 phases of its growth: the fastest in the 1st year of life, quite fast between the 1st and 3rd years, and slow between the 3rd and 14th years of a child’s life.
- The growth of the eyeball is accompanied by changes in refraction and the breaking power of the cornea.
- When the eyeball remains in the growth phase, each 1-millimeter elongation of the eyeball induces a visual defect of -3.00 diopters.
According to modern ophthalmic surgery standards, the eyes are not operated on until the visual defect is stabilized. Why? Because a short time after the operation, the defect may need to be corrected, i.e. another surgery. When does the defect stabilize? Most often around 18.-20. year of age. “Mostly” – which means not always, so it’s good to have your doctor, who observes the patient, waiting for the moment when he is already sure that the defect has stabilized and laser vision correction can be performed.
What other considerations come into play?
- The fact that at the age of adolescence, eye diseases can come to light that are an absolute contraindication to laser vision correction, such as corneal cone (a progressive eye disease leading to thinning and distortion of the cornea, and subsequent deterioration of vision).
- Adolescence is also the period when autoimmune diseases (e.g. Hashimoto’s, diabetes) manifest themselves. According to modern medical knowledge, autoimmune diseases are not always an absolute contraindication to laser eye surgery, but stabilization of the disease, remission of symptoms and a positive decision of the attending physician and ophthalmologist are necessary for a decision to be made.
