What is refractive lens exchange surgery?
Refractive lens exchange surgery is a more specialised form of cataract surgery. It removes the eye’s natural lens and, in the same procedure, corrects refractive errors — including short-sightedness, long-sightedness and astigmatism — using a premium intraocular lens chosen to suit your prescription.
Who is it for?
- Refractive Errors Corrected with RLE:
- Presbyopia: Age-related loss of natural reading ability, corrected by replacing the stiffened lens with a multi-range implant.
- Severe Short-Sightedness (Myopia): Eliminates high prescriptions beyond the safe parameters of laser eye surgery.
- Long-Sightedness (Hyperopia): Resolves eye strain and blurred near vision by refocusing light directly onto the retina.
- Astigmatism: Neutralised accurately through personalised toric intraocular lens technology.
Premium Lens Options
- Enhanced Monofocal Lenses: Delivers sharp, high-contrast distance vision with an expanded intermediate range for screens, offering exceptional night-driving clarity with negligible optical disturbances.
- Extended Depth of Focus (EDOF) Lenses: Creates an elongated continuous focal zone from distance through intermediate arm’s-length range, allowing seamless transition without visual drop-offs.
- Multifocal Lenses: Advanced optical zone technology providing true three-range independence (distance, intermediate, and near reading) to minimise or completely eliminate glasses.
The procedure
A day-case procedure under local anaesthetic, taking around 15 to 20 minutes per eye. A premium intraocular lens is selected to reduce the need for glasses after surgery, at £3,500 per eye, including the lens and hospital fees. Femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery (FLACS) is available for an additional £500 per eye; it uses a laser to make precise incisions and fragment the lens, improving surgical accuracy.
Recovery
Recovery follows a similar pattern to cataract surgery. Vision improves within a day or two and settles further over two to four weeks. A protective shield is worn on the day of surgery, along with a short course of eye drops. Most patients resume light activities within a few days. If a multifocal or extended depth-of-focus lens has been chosen, it can take several weeks for the brain to adjust fully, so that near, intermediate and distance vision feel balanced.
FROM
£3,500 per eye
Procedure time
Under 15 mins per eye
Anaesthetic
Local
Recovery
A few days
Hospital stay
Day case