Lasik Eye Surgery Risks Include Loss of Vision

Most often, patients of lasik eye surgery are pleased with the results of the refractive surgery but they should be aware that it does involve certain risks and that is why it becomes necessary for them to understand the various types of lasik surgery risks.

This would involve studying and understanding the possible risks which may include losing vision, developing a debilitating visual symptom, under-correction or over-correction or developing severe dry eye symptoms. Some patients have disappointing results and refractive errors that may occur, farsighted patients may see results diminish with age, and also there is not enough long term data available to ensure long-term safety and effectiveness of lasik surgery.

Device Malfunction, Flap Migration, Inflammations and Infections

In addition, there are other lasik eye surgery risks such as malfunction of devices used in the procedure, migration of the flap, and inflammation or infection developing. There are instances when a patient loses lines of vision on the vision chart that may not be able to be treated by glasses, contact lenses or surgery and this is a grave lasik surgery risk.

There may also be lasik eye surgery risks such as the patient developing glares, halos and/or double vision that may seriously hinder nighttime vision and the patient may not be able to see well in low contrast situations. The numbers of patients who achieve 20/20 vision as a result of lasik surgery are few and so may need additional treatment though such additional treatment may not always be possible. This is another lasik surgery risk.

There is also considerable lasik eye surgery risk in that the patient may not be able to produce enough tears so that the eye remains clean as well as moist and comfortable. There is considerable discomfort caused by dry eyes and it may reduce the quality of vision because of intermittent blurring as well as other symptoms of vision. Such a condition may sometimes become permanent and may require intensive drop therapy as well as using plugs or some other procedures for treatment and is certainly another serious lasik surgery risk.

The patient would be well advised to discuss with the doctor their expectations and be prepared that sometimes the results would not match high expectations. In case of farsighted people, the amount by which the vision can be improved as a result of having lasik eye surgery would decrease as one grows older and this may be another lasik surgery risk. Also, there is not enough long term data to help the medical professionals glean more knowledge about this relatively new technology and so the long-term safety and effectiveness of lasik eye surgery is not really known.