I have just seen the following figures comparing the Technolas 217 to the Ladarvision and Visx.

The thing I found so surprising were the FDA figures.

Patient Satisfaction:
Technolas 98.6%, Ladarvision 79.3%, VISX 87.8%.

20/20 Vision:
Technolas 87.3%, Ladarvision 47.2%, VISX 56.2%.

and similiar figures for Glare/Halo etc.

http://www.lasik-doctor-ohio.com/Html/lasers.htm

Is the Technolas actually that much better, if one has a suitable prescription and corneal thickness to be able to accept the additional corneal ablation?

Or are there other additional factors which have to be taken into account?

The chart you are referring to is provided by a doctor who has (guess which type of laser).
This website is comparing lasers with patients of different levels of refractive error. As you may be aware - the visual results are directly related to the preop level of myopia. So looking at patients with 3 diopters of myopia or less will show lasers to be fantastic, while looking at patients with refractions of -8 to -12 will show much poorer results.
The VISX results includes patients from 0 to -14 Diopters of myopia with up to 5 diopters of astiogmatism. On the other hand, the Technolas is only looking at patients up to 7 diopters of myopia and up to 3 diopters of astigmatism. So this is an uneven comparison.
I can tell you that the overall enhancement rate at my eye center (we have 7 surgeons that use our VISX laser) is under 5%.
Most experts agree that it is the surgeon, not the type of laser, that is most important in determining one's outcomes.

Best of luck

Bill Trattler, MD
Miami, fL

The 20/20 vision data are from studies submitted to the FDA. You can't fault the doctor; he is just the messenger.

I'm not sure about the patient satisfaction figures. I don't recall seeing them in the studies. They may be there.

You do make a very valid point that the B&L Technolas operates over a more conservative range than the other lasers so one should expect better results. Even if the same laser were tested over the two corresponding ranges of initial prescriptions, you would probably expect better results (i.e. Visx and LadarVision would appear better if only patients up to -7 O.D. were studied). However, if you do believe this (and I do), you have to believe that patients with initial prescriptions stronger than -7 O.D. are at significantly higher risk of not obtaining 20/20 or 20/40 vision. They should know that.

One can dismiss the Technolas data as an apple to oranges comparison but its high success rate cannot be overlooked and its conservative operating range could be perceived as a manufacturer's concern for utmost patient safety. Maybe the other lasers are being used where they shouldn't be used.

P.S. I have no affiliation with B&L. And don't take this as a personal attack. It's just the way I feel. I think LASIK is great but I'm in the camp that believes that one who does not have conservative eye parameters should think it over very carefully before submitting to LASIK.

I consulted with three doctors, each of which told me my pupils were between 7 and 7.5 mm. Two of the doctors told me this should not cause any major problems and that they felt comfortable operating on me with the visx. the third doctor i saw told me he felt comfortable operating on me only with the autonomous. i have never even heard of the Technolas until now. I had my consultations a month ago and in the meantime I have been doing my own research online trying to find out how risky the surgery is. I am 21 yrs. old, my prescription is -6 in both eyes, and a preliminary assessment said my corneas were thick. i really want to have the surgery right away, many of my friends have had it and have all been successful. my family says i should wait for further advancements in technology and i don't want to regret my decision. one of my problems is i have GPC so i cannot wear contacts. i have read a lot of the messages but none of them give any statistics or numbers. i want to know what percent of people experience halos, haze, starbursts, and gashing. i just need some concrete info.

I just had Lasik last week and I spent a lot of time looking for information. Here are a few points to consider:

1) You are only 21 so it is possible that your prescription may still get worse over the next few years. My prescription changed until I was about 26. Has your prescription changed by .5 diopters or more in the past year? Also, apparently the size of the pupil actually gets smaller as we get older, so you might be a better candidate later. I don't know how much the change in pupil size is, but it is something to consider.

2) Do you have any astigmatism? If you do this will shrink the optical zone on the Visx. The amount of shrinkage varies.

3) Each laser will ablate a different number of microns per diopter of correction and the larger the optical zone the deeper the ablation zone. It is important that you know the exact numbers on corneal thickness for both eyes and how much residual cornea thickness will be left after treatment with each laser.

4) You also need to know the steepness of your corneas (number usually between 40 and 48), because the risks for night vision problems are related to this number as well as to the amount of correction needed and the pupil size.

I had Lasik on the Visx and I also had -6 diopter and I had -1.00 astigmatism, but my pupil size was measured around 5.5, which is a lot smaller than 7 to 7.5. If my pupils were as big as yours I would not have had it done on the Visx because of the increased risk of halo/starburst.

The following link provides a lot of detailed information about how to make sure you are a good candidate and explains the importance of the different measurements. Also, on the same website their is a bulletin board and plenty of other information. Good luck!

http://www.lasikprk.com/VisionPlaceIII/discover/treatlasik9.htm#Lasers

A couple more things. To get a sense of the problems people have had after Lasik you should go to the following website:
www.surgicaleyes.com
There are images that can show you how bad some people's vision is as a result of Lasik surgery.

Every person's eyes are different, so even though your friends are very happy, they may not have the same prescription, pupil size, etc. as you do. Ask each doctor how many patients they have treated with 7 or 7.5 mm pupils with -6 or more diopters on the same laser they are recommending for you and find out what the outcomes were like.

The following website has a list of excellent questions to ask your doctor:
http://www.usaeyes.org/faq/tough_questions.htm

I took the list with me and circled the questions I was most concerned with asking. I did not ask some of the more personal questions.

Thank you Jodie. I really appreciate you taking the time to respond and send me those links. i'm checking them out now. you were very helpful.