About 700,000 Americans undergo laser eye surgery annually to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism, and about 0.2 and 2 percent of all patients experience serious complications, notes the American Academy of Ophthalmology. However, nearly everyone who undergoes the surgery experiences some initial discomfort or vision problems that may go away in a matter of weeks or months, though some patients may require a follow-up surgery.
There are several different types of laser eye surgery, but laser assisted in situ keratomileusis, or LASIK, is by far the most common.
Good Candidates
People with minimal to moderate refractive errors, meaning those who have only moderate nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism, have had the best results from LASIK surgery, according to MayoClinic.com. Guidelines established by the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration state that people undergoing laser eye surgery should be in generally good health, and be at least age 18 and preferably older if undergoing surgery for nearsightedness, since this condition can worsen until people reach their late 20s.
Bad Candidates
The surgery carries more risk for people with higher degrees of refractive error. People with autoimmune diseases, persistent dry eyes, abnormally shaped corneas and rapidly changing vision are generally not good candidates for the surgery, according to MayoClinic.com. Pregnant or nursing women, and those on certain prescription medications should not have the surgery.
Temporary Side Effects
Burning, itching and dry or watery eyes are some common discomforts after laser eye surgery. These problems can often be treated with prescription eye drops, and generally go away within a few weeks or months.
Infections resulting from the surgery are treated with antibiotics. Some common vision problems following laser surgery include halos and glares around lights, poor night vision and double vision. These problems generally go away within 6 months.
Retreatment
About 10.5 percent of people who undergo laser eye treatment require a follow-up surgery to correct vision problems or side effects, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Vision complications that may require another surgery are under-correction, over-correction and astigmatism.
Under-correction occurs when too little tissue is removed from the eye to correct the vision. In over-correction, too much tissue is removed from the eye, which can leave the patient with reduced vision. If tissue is removed unevenly, it causes astigmatism. The uneven removal of tissue can be caused by too much movement of the eye during surgery.
Some patients develop severely dry eyes after laser surgery. In some cases, doctors recommend another surgery to insert plugs into the tear ducts to prevent tears from draining away from the eyes instead of lubricating them.
Considerations
Some doctors don't recommend laser eye surgery for people with mild or moderate vision problems. If someone has minor vision problems and uses contacts or glasses only part of the time, the gains from the surgery may not be worth the risk of the complications, according to the MayoClinic.com.
Sometimes, particularly if a patient is nearsighted, she will still need to wear contact lenses or glasses after the surgery.
