LASIK Complications and Problems

Filed in archive Risks and Problems on March 6, 2010

Before choosing LASIK or any other refractive surgery, it's a good idea to weigh the risks and benefits and consider how it will affect your life. Though incidence of long-term complications is low, refractive surgery is not without risks.

According to USAEyes, about 3% of refractive surgery patients have unresolved complications (all procedures and all kinds of problems combined) at six months after surgery, with about 0.5% of those being complications needing extensive management or aggressive intervention.

The Eye Surgery Education Council has some great statistics on incidence of intraoperative complications, (complications which occur during the procedure), post operative complications (those occurring after surgery), and on quality of vision complications associated with LASIK eye surgery.

Risks & Complications associated with LASIK and other refractive surgery:

• Severe dry eye that can only be treated with drops, possibly leading to vision loss
• Flap wrinkles, folds, or striae
• Decentered ablation
• Unstable cornea
• Infection, usually be treated with drops: if left untreated can form scarring that can permanently affect vision
• Diffuse lamellar keratitis, or DLK: inflammation that occurs when foreign bodies become trapped under the &nbspLASIK flap, leading to other problems if not treated
• Epithelial ingrowths, when cells from the epithelium start to grow under the corneal flap
• Corneal ecstasia also known as Keratectasia or Keratoconus: bulging of the eye's surface that can result &nbspfrom a flap that is cut too deeply or when too much tissue is removed from the cornea during LASIK. This condition &nbspcan only be treated with corneal transplant
• Epithelium erosion
• Central corneal islands, small areas of raised corneal tissue due to uneven ablation
• Flap migration
• Cutting the corneal flap completely through

Many of the above complications can lead to the following quality of vision problems; however these can be considered complications on their own:

• Over/under-correction or regression
• Halo around light sources
• Starbursts from light sources
• Ghosts/double vision
• Light sensitivity
• Astigmatism
• Loss of contrast in vision