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LASIK Risks |
Risks of LASIK and other
refractive surgeries:
o Some patients
lose vision. Some
patients lose lines of vision on the vision chart that
cannot be corrected with glasses, contact lenses, or
surgery as a result of treatment.
o Some patients
develop debilitating visual symptoms.
Some patients develop glare,
halos, and/or double vision that can seriously affect
nighttime vision. Even with good vision on the vision
chart, some patients do not see as well in situations of
low contrast, such as at night or in fog, after treatment
as compared to before treatment.
o You may be under treated or over treated.
Only a certain percent of patients achieve 20/20 vision
without glasses or contacts. You may require additional
treatment, but additional treatment may not be possible.
You may still need glasses or contact lenses after surgery.
This may be true even if you only required a very weak
prescription before surgery. If you used reading glasses
before surgery, you may still need reading glasses after
surgery.
o Some patients
may develop severe dry eye syndrome.
As a result of surgery, your eye may not be able to
produce enough tears to keep the eye moist and comfortable.
Dry eye not only causes discomfort, but can reduce visual
quality due to intermittent blurring and other visual
symptoms. This condition may be permanent. Intensive drop
therapy and use of plugs or other procedures may be
required.
o Results are
generally not as good in patients with very large
refractive errors of any type.
You should discuss your expectations with your doctor and
realize that you may still require glasses or contacts
after the surgery.
o For some
farsighted patients, results may diminish with age.
If you are
farsighted, the level of improved vision you experience
after surgery may decrease with age. This can occur if your
manifest refraction (a vision exam with lenses before
dilating drops) is very different from your cycloplegic
refraction (a vision exam with lenses after dilating
drops).
Source: fda.gov
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