Insufficient corrections: If the laser removes too little tissue from the eye, you won't get the clearest vision results you expected. Dry eye after laser eye surgery is usually a temporary phenomenon, but it can become a long-term problem if patients are not properly evaluated before surgery. Dry eye after LASIK and PRK occurs because the superficial nerve endings on the surface of the cornea need to regenerate and heal. The cornea is a little numb and doesn't have the sensitivity needed to cause tear production.
In addition, nerve endings are known to produce chemical messengers (cytokines) that act as growth factors that coordinate the interaction between cells on the surface. Nerves regenerate in 6 to 12 weeks and during this time the eyes tend to dry out. Like all surgical procedures, there is a risk of infection. Fortunately, the risk of infection in laser eye surgery is extremely small.
The risk of infection, from highest to lowest, is LASEK, PRK, LASIK with a blade and IntraLasik, with a femtosecond laser that represents the lowest risk of all. The overall risk of infection after using IntraLasik in very good eye care centers is 1 in 10,000 cases. Complications in the flap, such as eyelets, partial flaps and irregular fragmented flaps, have been described in Lasik laser eye surgery, in which a microkeratome with a blade is used to create the flap. After the introduction of the IntraLase femtosecond laser for creating flaps (introduced in the United Kingdom by Centre for Sight in 2000), complications with flaps are now rare.
The use of the femtosecond laser is the reference standard and blade-shaped microkeratomas, which in the past were responsible for flap complications, should no longer be used. Many patients who undergo LASIK surgery can see well without the aid of contact lenses or eyeglasses. Experts agree that the risk of developing a vision-endangering complication due to inadequate care or excessive use of contact lenses over time is more likely than the possible risks of LASIK surgery. For a few days or a few weeks after laser eye surgery (with both LASIK and surface ablation), ALL patients have halos.
Right now, we'd like to focus on the side effects of LASIK surgery and what patients will experience as they recover.
