Contact lens management of patients who have had unsuccessful refractive surgery

The advent of corneal refractive surgery has, inevitably, resulted in the occasional need for contact lens fitting after surgery. For each new, developing procedure, new contact lens fitting challenges arise. The literature on contact lens use after radial keratotomy is rich and well known, but reports on the use of contact lenses after photorefractive keratectomy or laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis are few and far between. This review summarizes the prevailing clinical opinions on the contact lenses and contact lens fitting methods that are most effective after refractive surgery that results in high refractive error, irregular astigmatism, or anisometropia.