Understanding complications of LASIK Surgery

Due to technological medical advancements, LASIK has become one unanimous procedure of choice for treatment of eye ailments resulting in better vision.

However, like any surgical procedure, LASIK does come with some risks. So if you are planning to go for LASIK in the coming future you need to be well aware of potential complications before going ahead with the surgery:

Need of Glasses/Eye-Contacts

This is extreme case condition that you would require such prescription to restore the vision’s best condition. Though it happens rarely, the possibility should be taken into account. In addition, if both of your eyes are corrected for good distance vision, you will still need glasses for close work when presbyopia develops as a part of the normal aging process after the age of around

Under-correction or Over-correction

Generally, the vision is restored after treatment and patients are content with it but rarely does it happen that desired quality is not achieved in one go. For such cases, another surgery called enhancement is required to get the proper results. The enhancement surgery requires the patient’s eyes to stabilize for eyeglass prescription and heal after the first surgery. In some rare cases, you may not be able to have an enhancement if your corneas are too thin or abnormally shaped after surgery.

Persistence of Dry Eye Symptoms

Dry eye symptoms are observed by the people who have recently undergone LASIK surgery. In some cases, people may develop worsening of dry-eye symptoms, such as burning and redness, or even decreased vision, after surgery. To temporarily close off the drainage system for tears and improve tear production certain medication is required as prescribed by an ophthalmologist.

Visual Aberrations

Sometimes LASIK may result in effects on sight like anisometropia (difference in refractive power between the two eyes), aniseikonia (difference in image size between the two eyes), double vision, hazy vision, fluctuating vision during the day and from day to day, increased sensitivity to light, glare, shadows, and seeing halos around lights. As rare as they seem to be, they can have pretty devastating effects for some and may not go away ever.

Vision Loss is Possible

Rarely is it observed that vision gets worsened after LASIK which unfortunately is non-treatable with contact lenses or glasses. This could result from flap-related complications, infection, scarring, or extreme changes in corneal shape postoperatively.

Article: Understanding complications of LASIK Surgery
Author: Dr Varun Malhotra   |   Jan 11 2017 | UPDATED 02:00 IST

*The views expressed here are solely those of the author in his private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of Centre for Sight.