The first thing to accept is that there are indeed lasik eye surgery risks, and they come in two parts. Those elements called “complications” are the things that can happen during the actual operation. Anything that happens after lasik eye surgery is called a side effect.
Lasik candidates need to know that “complications” and “side effects” are very real possibilities. The Lasik procedure is surgery, and there are never 100% guarantees in any form of surgery. However, although people know there are Lasik eye surgery risks, public confidence in Lasik eye surgery is high.
American surgeons first started using the procedure in 1990, and the FDA cautions that the “long-term data” on lasik eye surgery risks “is not known”. On the other hand, millions of Americans have shown they are willing to accept these lasik eye surgery risks by opting for the treatment, and the percentage of Lasik complications has been falling for years.
Initial Lasik Eye Surgery Risks
Patients can be either over-corrected or under corrected, and sometimes a second round of surgery called an enhancement may be needed, particularly as only a percentage of patients end up with 20/20 vision. You may still still need glasses or contacts after Lasik surgery.
This second round of surgery cannot take place until the eyes have healed from the initial operation (this can take many months) and sometimes cannot take place at all if the corneas are too thin.
Equipment and procedures have improved steadily, but the most important factor helping to reduce lasik eys surgery risks seems to be practice and the expertise of the eye surgeon. Experienced surgeons report Lasik complication rates of less than 1%, while rates as high as 5% were reported when Lasik was first used.
Lasik Eye Surgery Risks that Involve “the flap”
A number of Lasik eye surgery risks center around problems that can occur around the creation of the flap. In a Lasik procedure, a blade (called a microkeratome) or a laser is used to cut a flap in the front of the eye, the cornea.
The surgeon lifts the flap, uses a laser to reshape the eye, and the flap is replaced.
Problems arise when the flap is cut too thin, or too thick.
Sometimes the flap fails to re-adhere to the eye when it is put back.
Sometimes the Lasik flap starts to wrinkle when it is put back on the surface of the eye.
Almost all these problems can be fixed by re-treating the eye (a procedure called an enhancement), usually about nine months after the first operation. By this time the eye will have healed and stabilized.
The American Journal of Opththalmology says that flap problems happen in between .3% and 5.7% of Lasik procedures – quite a wide range. By 2004 one report noted that flap problems had fallen to only 0.1 to 0.2%.
Because inexperience is such a big factor in Lasik complications, it probably makes sense to choose an experienced lasik surgeon to move the odds in your favour, because experienced surgeons do seem to equal lower lasik eye surgery risks. While this may impact on the final cost, most people would agree it is a price worth paying.
Lasik Eye Surgery Risks After the Procedure
Some people actually lose some vision ( defined by the number of lines the patient can see on a vision chart), and this loss cannot be corrected by glasses or contact lenses.
Some people develop double or hazy vision, have problems in low light and suffer from halos and glare, with the result that night driving becomes a problem.
Another of the Lasik eye surery risks is that patients may suffer from lasik dry eyes syndrome following surgery, because the eye cannot produce enough tears to keep the eye moistened. This condition can become permanent, and a secondary procedure involving drop therapy and plugs may be needed to temporarily close off the tear drainage system.
A possible side effect is inflammation where the flap makes contact with the eye. Another is called epithelial ingrowth, in which cells lining the surface of the eye move underneath a problem flap and start growing.
As this happens after the actual Lasik procedure, further treatment comes under the heading of post-operative care.
But the odds, in general, are good. Very few patients suffer lasting damage that seriously threatens their vision, and most Lasik complications are cleared up via a further enhancement.
The medical profession now has extensive experience in what is a comparatively common procedure, and lasik eye surgery risks are being constantly reduced.
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