The Dangers of Eye Surgery

Experienced and skillful surgeons who perform the LASIK eye surgery quite often keep the complication or problem rates below 1%. But still LASIK is surgery. Even with the best of surgeons there is still a 1% chance of something going wrong. If you have surgery with a less experienced surgeon then the LASIK complication risk rises.

With LASIK, a blade or laser is used to cut a thin, hinged flap into the front of the eye (cornea). The flap then is lifted, laser energy is applied to re-shape the eye, and the flap is replaced to promote healing. Sounds simple enough but here are the problems that can occur:

Improperly formed LASIK flaps:

The improperly formed flaps may fail to merge properly to the eye's surface, which creates an irregular surface and defects the vision. Surgery may then have to be repeated a few more times to smooth the surface on the eye.

Inflammation:

It is still unknown why inflammation occurs, but the inflammation can develop in areas where the flap makes contact with the eye. Known as DLK (Diffuse Lamellar Keratitis) is can create symptoms such as photophobia (which causes the eye to be sensitive to light), it can also create a loss of visual acuity. These problems are most often resolved but in some cases you are left with a worse eye-sight then before.

Epithelial Ingrowth:

The cells and tissues lining the eye's surface (epithelium) may move underneath a defective flap, especially if there was initial swelling. This is what creates epithelial ingrowth, a type of scarring that leads to an irregular eye surface and therefore vision distortions. To resolve the problem the flap can be re-lifted and the ingrowth scrapped away but there is a chance the epithelial ingrowth will grow back.

Ectasia:

If the flap is made to thick then it can weaken the eye's surface, which then makes the eye bulge, this is known as ectasia. Although the increase in improved technology has meant that this complication is very unlikely.

Other LASIK complications:

Infection, dry eye, and night vision problems such as seeing halos and glare around lights are other reported problems with LASIK eye surgery. As these types do not affect the quality of vision measured on the standard eye chart or an eye examination, these complications may be excluded from reports. The advancement of newer technology though has lowered the risks of these complications and they are happening less and less.

LASIK also may lead to regression, over-correction, or under-correction of a vision defect, which may require an additional LASIK procedure to correct residual vision problems.