In many cases, eyesight is improved significantly,
allowing a person to see well without having to wear eyeglasses
or contact lenses.
In other cases, vision improves enough
to allow a person to function without eyeglasses or contact lenses
at certain times, although corrective lenses may still be needed
for activities such as driving and reading.
The visual improvement may also have psychological
benefits if you feel that you look much better, or can function
better, without corrective lenses.
No surgical procedure is completely free
of risk. It is not possible to list every complication that can
occur, and there may be adverse reactions, which are unknown
at this time. Since glasses or contact lenses are currently available
and, in general, safely correct all refractive errors, you need
to thoroughly consider whether the risks of having the LASIK procedure
outweigh the possible benefits.
• Under- or over-correction
If the desired correction is not achieved, glasses may still
be necessary for good vision. In most cases, significant over
or under-corrections can be retreated.
• Regression
In some patients the effect of surgery is gradually lost over
several months. Such regression is more common in patients who
are very nearsighted (> - 6.00 diopters.) Most significant
regression can be retreated.
• Halo effect
Halo is an optical effect that is noticed in dim light. As the
pupil enlarges, a second faded image is produced by the untreated
peripheral cornea. Some patients who have undergone LASIK notice
this effect while driving at night and this can interfere with
night driving. Halo occurs less frequently with the larger treatment
zones used today.
• Decentration
Significant decentration of the zone of treatment (the laser
beam not centered on the pupil) can occur when the patient does
not fixate correctly during surgery. Halo and blurry vision can
result.
• Inconvenience between surgeries
In the time between surgery on the first and second eye, the
two eyes may not work well together because of the their temporary
difference in refraction (spectacle correction). If a contact
lens is not tolerated in the unoperated eye, work and driving
may be awkward or impossible until the second eye has had LASIK.
This problem does not occur when LASIK is performed bilaterally.
• Presbyopia and reading glasses
Even if the operation is successful in correcting your myopia,
you may require reading glasses sooner than you would otherwise.
As a person grows older, the lens of the eye is less able to
focus, and near vision becomes more difficult. This normal aging
process is called presbyopia, a condition that can be alleviated
with reading glasses or bifocal lenses. An advantage of being
myopic or nearsighted is that it generally takes longer to be
affected by presbyopia. Therefore, if a person does not have the
operation and remains myopic, reading glasses may not be needed
until age 50 or older. Patients who have had the operation may
need reading glasses in their early forties, as do most individuals
with normal eyesight.
• Remote risks
As with any eye surgery, there is a remote possibility of severe
infection, corneal perforation, drug reaction, or other rare
complication, which could cause chronic pain, an unsightly eye,
or partial or complete loss of vision.
• Raised eye pressure
Transient elevation of intraocular pressure occurred on 2% of
patients who were on topical steroids following LASIK surgery,
with return to normal pressures and no ill effects following
discontinuation of steroids. Patient may not be aware of intraocular
pressure. However, this is a routine part of the follow-up care
provided by eye care professionals.
