Millions of people have undergone laser eye surgery in the past decade, and living happily and safely with it. When done properly by an experienced eye surgeon, and to the suitable case, there is no serious sight threatening complications and the benefits are immense and appreciated very well. However, there are some risks which can occur, and you should be aware of their possibility. They can roughly be divided into: common side effects, infrequent side effects, and extremely rare ones.
This monograph does not relate to complications caused by operating on the wrong cases (non-indicated cases for whom LASIK was not suitable in the first place)
Commonly occurring (side effects) of LASIK
These are not (true side effects), but rather a cause of a trivial discomfort following LASIK. It is to be noted that these symptoms can occur in one eye more than the other with no particular significance.
- Dry sensation of the eyes is common in the first few months after LASIK. That is why we usually advise instilling artificial preservative-free eye drops during this period.
- Light sensitivity in the first day. .
- Scratchiness in the first few days.
- Patches of red or pink in the white of the eye are common in the first days. They are caused by the microkeratome suction and disappear completely by fewdays-2 weeks.
Infrequent side effects of LASIK
- Over- or under-treatment of the condition may occur, and a minimal degree of under or over-correction is probably the commonest (side effect) which can occur. requiring additional surgery, contact lens, or glasses.
- As with all normal populations, reading glasses may still be needed after surgery for patients over 45. However, there is actually an added advantage here for LASIK as we can make some adjustments during the operation to delay, and sometimes negate the use of reading glasses.
- Problems with night driving or visual symptoms, such as glare and haloes. We used to warn our patients about haloes around lights during night driving in the first few months. Recently, however, with modifications in the technique and upgrades in the laser software, we rarely encounter this complaint, even with fair people in whom it was very common. If it does occur, it usually disappear within 6 months .
- Few patients, although they may see much better than before LASIK without glasses, will still need minor glasses for their best vision.
- Problems with a decrease in contrast sensitivity in the first 3 months, and even with 6/6 or 20/20 vision, objects may appear fuzzy or gray.
- Flap complications; flap wrinkles can occur if the patient rubs his eye vigorously in the first few days after LASIK. This is avoided by avoiding rubbing during this period. Dr Khalil will use plastic clear shields for anxious patients. If it does occur, again prompt management completely cures it.
- Rarely, some inflammatory deposits under the flap can occur, and they subside with the use of proper eye drops.
Extremely rare side effects of LASIK which never occurred in our clinic
- Corneal scarring, permanent warping of the cornea and an inability to wear contact lenses is recorded in some reports if flap complications arise and are managed incorrectly.
- Corneal infection is recorded to occur in some centers, however, if it does occur, prompt management with necessary eye drops resolves the problem. Most importantly actually is prevention by proper asepsis in the laser room.