Definition
Limbal relaxing incisions are a refractive surgical procedure to correct astigmatism, most commonly during phacoemulsification. The procedure consists of making a pair of incisions at the limbus which have the effect of changing corneal astigmatism.
Epidemiology
Due to the fact that cataract surgery is one of the most highly frequented surgical procedures worldwide, the number of limbal relaxing incisions is very high.
History
Starting in the 1990s, limbal relaxing incisions became popular for correcting corneal astigmatism of 0.5–4.0D. The technique was introduced by JP Gills, who also made nomograms to determine the length, number, and depth of the incisions.
Clinical Features
According to the Gills and Gayton nomograms which determine the length, number, and depth of incisions, generally a 6 mm incision corrects up to 2D of astigmatism. Paired incisions can correct up to 4D.
Tests
Thorough examination of the eyes and...
Keywords
- Limbal Relaxing Incisions
- Radial Keratotomy
- Astigmatic Keratotomy
- Peripheral Corneal Relaxing Incisions
- Astigmatism Correction
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Further Reading
Amesbury EC, Miller KM (2009) Correction of astigmatism at the time of cataract surgery. Curr Opin Ophthalmol 20:19–24
Albert DM, Miller JW, Azar DT (2008) Albert & Jakobiec’s principles & practice of ophthalmology. Saunders, Philadelphia
Gills JP, Gayton JL (1998) Reducing pre-existing astigmatism. In: Gills JP, Fenzl R, Martin RG (eds) Cataract surgery; the state of the art. Slack, Thorofare, pp 53–66
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this entry
Cite this entry
Ostovic, M., Kohnen, T. (2012). Limbal relaxing incisions. In: Schmidt-Erfurth, U., Kohnen, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Ophthalmology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35951-4_359-4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35951-4_359-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-35951-4
eBook Packages: Springer Reference MedicineReference Module Medicine