Laser Eye Surgery Risks

Laser eye surgery is also called ocular surgery. This surgery is carried out on the adnexa of the eye by an ophthalmologist. Although this is a corrective surgery, there are a number of laser eye surgery risks involved. Let's get to know them here.

Types of Corrective Eye Surgery
There are two types of vision correction surgery. They are LASIK and PRK. LASIK, also written as Lasik, is a refractive surgery. It is used to correct myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. A laser is used in this surgery. The acronym PRK stands for photorefractive keratectomy. It is also referred to as Advanced Surface Ablation.

Lasik is preferred over PRK as the time taken for the patient to recover and also the pain caused to the patient is less with Lasik. Nevertheless, the PRK procedure is medically justified to be a better alternative than the Lasik procedure. A number of people undergo Lasik as they do not want to wear eyeglasses and contact lenses.

Laser Eye Surgery Risks
There are many risks of laser eye surgery. Here are the risks

• Dry Eye: Dry eye after Lasik eye surgery is a problem which is faced by a lot of patients who undergo laser eye surgeries. Due to the surgery, the eye is not able to produce sufficient tears to keep the eyes moist. Dry eye can cause poor visual quality. Dry eye after the surgery is normally a permanent side-effect of this surgery.
• Corneal Ectasia: Some laser eye surgeries have led to fluid build-up in the eye. This fluid build-up is called corneal ectasia. To correct this condition, a corneal transplant may be required in some cases.
• Vision Loss: There have been cases of vision loss due to laser eye surgery. This condition cannot be corrected by any other surgery, glasses or contact lenses.
• Under-treatment: Rarely has the laser surgery achieved 20/20 vision. Often, it is under-treatment, due to which the patient has to undergo additional treatment, or the patient has to continue using contact lenses or glasses.
• Debilitating Visual Symptoms: One of the laser surgery risks is that the person develops double vision, blurred vision, halos or glares. The vision chart shows that the patient has good vision, but in reality the person is not able to see well in low light contrast, at night or in the fog. Very often, the patient is unable to drive during the night due to the night glare.
• Infection: Some cases of infection have been observed after laser eye surgery.
• Incomplete Surgery: Due to complications with the laser machinery, at times the procedure is left incomplete.
• Vision Problem Reappears: In some patients, it has been noticed that the effects of the surgery are not lasting and the problem with it reappears. In such a case, repeat laser eye surgery is required.
• Decreased Vision: Some patients have noticed that their vision prior to the surgery was better than the vision post-surgery.
• Changed Dynamics of the Cornea: The laser eye surgery changes the dynamics of the cornea. Due to this, in case of glaucoma or cataract surgery, it is difficult to measure the exact intra-ocular pressure.
• Retinal Detachment: Some cases of retinal detachment have also been observed after the laser eye surgery.

Many people in the age group of 40 to 50 are considering laser eye treatment. But before they go in for surgery, it is necessary to evaluate whether cataract or glaucoma are not the reason behind the vision problems. At the same time, it is important not to ignore the laser eye surgery risks.