SINGAPORE: Singapore has one of the highest success and safety rates for LASIK surgery, according to a Health Ministry survey.

Four medical centres that handled more than 10,300 cases in 2005, recorded success and safety rates ranging from 98 to 100 percent, better than some international centres.

Success rate is measured by whether patients achieve 6/12 vision or better after the procedure, while safety rate refers to the absence of complications such as infections after surgery.

Tan Tock Seng Hospital, which handled 2,284 LASIK cases last year scored high in both – a 100 percent success rate and between 99.7 percent and 100 percent safety rate.

Dr Lee Hung Ming, Head, LASIK Centre, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, says: "We have a good team of experienced surgeons and also a good and very advanced machine, which are the two essential components to achieve good results in any surgery.

"Furthermore, we also screen our patients very thoroughly and we have no hesitation in excluding anybody who is deemed not fit for LASIK surgery. For the last 7 years since we started LASIK surgery, we have not had a single case of infection."

The National University Hospital, which saw 262 cases, and the Singapore National Eye Centre, which treated more than 7,000 patients, also recorded very good results, scoring safety rates exceeding 99.2 percent and success rates of at least 98.8 percent.

The only private centre to take part in the survey, Jerry Tan Eye Surgery, located at Camden Medical Centre, achieved 100 percent for both safety and success rates for the 665 cases that it handled last year.

These results are better than those at some centres in the United States where between 96 percent and 100 percent of patients achieved 6/12 vision or better after LASIK procedures. Some studies in the United States have also reported safety rates of between 95 percent and 99.7 percent.

LASIK surgery, which aims to correct short sightedness, has been carried out for 18 years.

In Singapore, where myopia is prevalent, the procedure is becoming increasingly popular as reflected in the upward trend in the number of surgeries done in both the public and the private hospitals.

This is the third time that the Health Ministry has released comparative success rates for medical treatment.

Success rates for in-vitro fertilization were released in 2004, while data for cataract surgery was out in March this year.

The Ministry's efforts aim to assess the level of service, costs, and success rates of various medical institutions as well as help consumers make better choices. - CNA/so