Laser Eye Surgery Risks And Complications

Laser vision correction is becoming a very popular way to correct long sight, short sight and astigmatism. Successful laser eye surgery means that there will be no more need for glasses or contact lenses. However, if you want to find out everything about laser eye surgery, it is important to know about the risks and possible complications as well as details about the procedure itself and the expected outcome.

Possible Laser Vision Correction Problems During Surgery

It is highly unlikely that the laser equipment will malfunction during the operation but it is not impossible. If this happens, the procedure might have to stop partway through. Another error such as cutting a flap the whole way through instead of creating a hinge during LASIK might lead to irreversible eye damage.

Even when everything goes well, there are some side effects which it is important you know about. Older patients should be informed before surgery that it is not possible to have both good near vision and good distance vision in the same eye without contact lenses or glasses.

If one eye is being done at a time, the eyes might not be able to work together properly between the two treatments. If that happens, driving will not be possible between the two treatments and vision might be blurry which can lead to headaches.

You might be under treated or over treated, meaning you will need additional surgical treatment, glasses or contact eyes. If you have a large refractive error, the surgery might not give the hoped for results and you will still have to wear contact lenses or glasses. There is no hundred percent guarantee with any type of laser eye surgery.

Possible Laser Vision Correction Problems After Surgery

Some laser eye surgery patients might develop debilitating visual symptoms after the surgery, such as halos, double vision or glare which affects their night time vision. Other patients might lose lines of sight on a chart which cannot be corrected afterwards with surgery, glasses or contact lenses.

Dry eye syndrome might affect patients after laser eye surgery. This means the eye will not be able to produce enough tears to keep the eye comfortable and moist, which will be uncomfortable and can reduce visual quality. This condition can be permanent. Migration of the eye flap, inflammation or infection might require intensive eye drop treatment or another procedure. These complications can even lead to temporary or permanent blindness.

There is a tiny chance of an infected cornea after PRK and a smaller chance still of an infected cornea after LASIK. This means that healing will take longer and your eye will be uncomfortable while it heals.

Your eye laser surgery results might diminish with age, especially with older patients. LASIK surgery has only been used since 1998 so long term effectiveness and safety is not known.

Despite these worries about laser eye surgery, it is still a generally safe process and thousands of people are delighted with the results of using laser for corrrection of vision problems. Every type of surgery carries small risks and it is important to be aware of the pros and cons before you make the decision to have laser vision correction.

Bookmarks
Bookmark This |