Laser Eye Surgery Risks

Like all surgeries, laser eye surgery too has its own risks. No surgery is ever 'risk free'. Specific complications arise, and in some cases, many people suffer certain conditions immediately after laser eye surgery. If you are contemplating laser eye surgery, you are well advised to know the risks involved:

Improper focusing of light

Laser eye surgery is centered on the pupil and any de-centered incision will result in improper focusing of light. Numerous lasers have an eye-tracking beam to decrease any possibility of de-centered ablation.

Accelerating cataract clouding

Although a natural occurrence brought on by age, cataract - the clouding of the crystalline lens - can be brought on faster by the invasive laser eye surgery.

Under correction due to room temperature

Temperature and humidity of the laser room, hydration of the cornea in the course of surgery and calibration of laser could result in under-correction. This would call for extra laser treatment immediately after three months to allow the outcomes to stabilize. Although rare, over-correction can alter a myopic condition to a hyperopic condition. This too can be corrected with a further surgery.

Astigmatism

Some times surgery can trigger Astigmatism. Although the factors are not known, the alignment of the patient's eye and uniformity of the laser beam could be the reasons. This can be corrected by glasses or gas permeable contact lenses.

Loss of visual acuity

There could be loss of visual acuity. Assume that a pre-operative vision of 20/400 with out glasses and contact lenses, and a 20/20 vision with them, improves following laser surgery to 20/30 with out glasses and get in touch with lenses, and 20/20 vision with thinner glasses and contact lenses. You would have lost visual acuity if the 20/30 post surgery vision can not be improved even with glasses and contact lenses. This might take place in five% of the low to medium Myopia patients.

Corneal haze condition

You could develop a corneal haze, a ground-glass like appearance, following laser eye surgery. A minor haze could be taken care with anti-inflammatory eye drops. A far more dense haze may need re-surgery.

Decrease in night time vision

You might encounter a decrease in night time vision, halos and star bursts etc. There could be decreased brightness and glare. In really rare circumstances, there is constantly a possibility of blindness and a probable sight-threatening infection, endophthalmitis.

Laser eye surgery is normally safe, but there is at all times a risk of post-operative infections. Usually, these do not have long term complications, and are ordinarily treated with eye drops. If undecided about the risks of laser eye surgery, discuss the pros and cons with your ophthalmologist.