Practitioner guidelines for continuous wear with high Dk silicone hydrogel contact lenses

The University of New South Wales Accepted for publication: 15 November 200 1 Key words: contact lens, guidelines, high Dk, silicone hydrogel From a patient’s perspective, the ultimate mode of vision correction is one that pro- vides excellent vision in a safe, comfort- able and convenient, fuss-free form. Al- though laser surgery offers permanent vision correction, the refractive outcome cannot always be accurately predicted, especially for correction of extreme myo- pia.l” Highly oxygen permeable (Dk) soft contact lenses that can be worn for up to 30 nights of extended wear without re- placement (continuous wear) offer a com- fortable and convenient form of lens wear that is free from hypoxia normally associ- ated with extended wear.M Our surveys in- dicate that up to 66 per cent of patients will consider refractive laser surgery as a permanent means of overcoming their vision correction and that only 32 per cent are still interested in laser surgery after experiencing continuous wear.g