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Laser eye surgery risks
Laser eye surgery has been around a lot longer than most people with think, with the first procedure carried out over 20 years ago. The procedure has evolved considerably over the years and it is now considered to be an extremely safe and effective procedure.
Although the complication rates do vary between different clinics and surgeons, the average figure is about 0.1%. This means that about 1 in 1000 laser eye surgery procedures result in some sort of complication. It is important to realise however that the vast majority of these 1 in 1000 complications can be easily rectified by a skilled surgeon or resolve themselves naturally over time as your eye continues its healing process.
As to whether or not you can go blind following laser eye surgery, to date there have been no such cases. People sometimes worry about the long term effects of laser eye surgery but again up until now there have been no reported negative effects.
Having said this, as with all surgical procedures there are still some risks that you need to be aware of before deciding to go ahead with the surgery. The following laser eye surgery risks are relevant for both Lasek and Lasik surgery. There are however additional Lasik complications which are all related to the creation of the flap.
Laser eye surgery risks:
- Discomfort following surgery: This varies from person to person as would normally be the case when recovering from any sort of surgery. Expect there to more discomfort with Lasek compared with Lasik and expect the healing time to be longer.
- Allergy to the anaesthetic eye drops: This is extremely rare and will lead to inflammation and possible scarring of the cornea. Less than 1 in 10,000 people will be affected by this complication and your surgeon will prescribe you with anti-inflammatory eye drops to treat it.
- Dry eyes: This is one of the most common risks of laser eye surgery and for this reason it is vitally important that your surgeon assesses how dry your eyes are prior to treatment. Dry eye typically resolves itself over the first 6 months following surgery as the eye naturally heals. If you already have dry eyes this maybe a contraindication to surgery. For more information you can read the following comprehensive guide: dry eyes and laser eye surgery
- Eye lid droop: (Ptosis): This is rare and usually resolves itself within 2 weeks of surgery. If necessary it can be rectified with surgery but this is not normally required.
- Corneal Infection: This is an uncommon risk of laser eye surgery and can normally be treated with antibiotics and steroid eye drops as required. It typically will mean your eyes will take longer to heal following surgery and you are likely to be in more discomfort.
- Irregular astigmatism: This type of astigmatism can lead to you experiencing ghosting around images which is especially noticeable at night (low light levels). This can normally be treated by further laser treatment to eliminate this unwanted prescription.
- Regression: This means that your vision slowly regresses over time following surgery. You may have perfect vision immediately following your surgery but over time your prescription deteriorates. It is very unlikely that it will regress back to your original prescription but it still may be enough for you to need spectacles again. A typical example of regression would be if your original prescription was -5.00 and then you regressed back to -1.00 over the first 12 months following surgery. The higher your original prescription was, the more likely you are to regress. Plus prescriptions (e.g. +5.00) are also more likely to regress than minus prescriptions (short sightedness). Normally if regression does occur, your surgeon can easily carry out a laser enhancement (e.g. a second laser treatment) when your eyes have fully healed. Most clinics do not charge for this re-treatment although you will need to check this with them prior to going ahead with your surgery.
- Corneal haze: The cornea is the part of your eye which is lasered during surgery and it can become cloudy if it does not heal properly after surgery. This laser eye surgery risk can result in reduced vision but it generally improves over time. Your surgeon will prescribe you with medicated eye drops to help reduce the haze if it is seen as a problem.
- Presbyopia: (needing reading glasses as you get older): This is not actually a risk of laser eye surgery but it is still something that you need to understand. Everyone needs reading glasses as they reach the age of about 45 years old and this is the exactly the same if you have had laser eye surgery. For example if you have laser eye surgery in your early 20's you will still need reading glasses as you reach your mid 40's. This natural loss of reading vision with age is called presbyopia and if you are over 45 years old and considering having laser eye surgery you may want to consider treatment options that correct both your distance and reading vision. You can read more about these options by clicking the following guide: Laser eye for reading
- Night vision problems: Examples of night vision problems are haloes, glare and starbursts around lights which are typically noticed in low light levels. Although this is a common laser eye surgery risk, it is much less of problem these days as a result of the improvements made in the lasers that are used. For those people at a higher risk of suffering night vision problems such as those with large pupils, your surgeon may recommend Wavefront laser eye surgery which further reduces the risk of any problems. Read more about laser eye surgery and night vision problems in our detailed guide.
- Over/under correction: Although laser eye surgery is becoming increasingly accurate, over correcting or under correcting your prescription is still one of the most common risks of laser eye surgery. This occasionally means you may still require spectacles in certain situations e.g. for driving. It is important to understand that your vision will still be considerably better than it was prior to surgery, it will just not be perfect. An example of under correction would be if you were -5.00 before surgery and then after surgery you were -1.00. Although this is frustrating it can be easily rectified by a laser re-enhancement once your eyes have fully healed from your initial surgery.
These risks relate to laser eye surgery in general (Lasik and Lasek) but there are additional Lasik complications which are specifically related to the creation for the flap. If you are thinking about having Lasik you should read the following guide: A guide to Lasik complications.
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