LASIK Surgery - Risks
While LASIK may be associated with a number of intraoperative and postoperative complications (see tables below), it's important to note that, according to many sources, the incidence of severe, vision-threatening complications is less than 1%. Other less serious complications can occur in up to 5% of people who undergo LASIK. LASIK can cause permanent problems, although this is rare.
View movie: Complications (requires Flash player)
| Complications | Symptoms | Treatments |
|---|---|---|
| Incomplete corrections (under correction, overcorrection, residual astigmatism) or regression of effect | Blurry, less-than-perfect vision | Glasses or contact lenses; re-treatment with laser |
| Large pupils (pupils wider than treatment zone) | Visual aberrations* | Eye drops; re-treatment with laser |
| Haze | Visual aberrations* | Eye drops; glasses, re-treatment with laser |
| Irregular flap (folds, wrinkles, striae) | Visual aberrations* | Surgical correction of flap |
| Dry eye | Dry, itchy or scratchy eyes, often with redness and sense of foreign object in eye, and sometimes pain | Artificial tears; punctal occlusion (blockage of tear ducts in order to retain tear film on eye) |
| Diffuse lamellar keratitis | Visual aberrations* | Eye drops; re-treatment with laser; surgical correction |
| Epithelial ingrowth | Visual aberrations* | Eye drops; re-treatment with laser; surgical correction |
| Infection | Redness, oozing of eyes, sometimes pain | Eye drops; oral medications |
*Visual aberrations include symptoms such as glare, double vision, ghosting, halos, starbursts, loss of contrast sensitivity, and problems with low-light or night vision. Not all patients experience all symptoms, and some patients with these complications experience no symptoms and require no treatment.
