The ICL implant

Hello, I am Dr Alexandre Balon, ophthalmologist at Clinique Saint-Pierre Ottignies. Today I am going to tell you about the ICL implant, in the field of refractive surgery.

The ICL is an implant that has been on the market for more than 25 years in the United States; we therefore have substantial experience of its efficacy, its tolerance and its long-term biocompatibility.

The ICL is an intraocular implant: it is added inside the eye without removing anything, a little as if a contact lens were slid inside the eye. A small incision, 3 mm wide, is made at the periphery of the cornea, in order to slide the implant between the iris — the coloured part of the eye — and the lens, the eye’s internal lens.

This technique is therefore purely additive: something is added, unlike laser techniques, which are subtractive — tissue is then removed, which makes them irreversible.

First, the ICL can correct extreme refractive errors, ranging up to −18 dioptres of myopia, up to +10 dioptres of hyperopia, as well as many dioptres of astigmatism. The ICL is, moreover, a reversible implant, as it is easily removed from the eye surgically if this ever proves necessary. Finally, since the incision to implant the ICL is minimal, the risk of dry eye is one of the lowest of the refractive surgery techniques, and almost no biomechanical alteration of the cornea occurs.

Finally, post-operative comfort is excellent and visual recovery very fast, within a few hours to a few days.