The first human eye was treated with laser surgery in 1988 , By 2006, about 1.3 million laser vision-correction procedures were being performed annually, according to the TLC Vision Corporation's 2006 Annual Report. Although clearly popular, there are some real potential dangers from laser eye surgery including vision loss, a decrease in the quality of your vision and post-surgery complications such as inflammation, infection and chronic dry eye.
Loss of Vision
The Food and Drug Administration website, fda.gov, states that laser eye surgery can result in loss of vision quality. In some cases, this loss of vision is so severe that it cannot be treated by glasses, contact lenses or further surgery.
According to the FDA, some patients notice worsened night vision because after eye surgery because they see increased glare or halos around bright objects at night.
Under or Over Correction
According to the Eye Surgery Education Council's website, not every patient achieves 20/20 vision in each eye after laser surgery. You may still need glasses to bring your vision to 20/20. Laser surgery to correct distance vision cannot reverse the need for reading glasses as we age (presbyopia). If you needed reading glasses before the surgery, you will likely still need reading glasses after the surgery, unless you have one eye corrected for farsightedness and one eye corrected for nearsightedness, a condition called monovision. Most doctors recommend that you try monovision first using differently (near and far) corrected contact lenses before you have surgery.
Severe Dry Eye Syndrome
Another danger of laser eye surgery identified by the FDA is permanently dry eyes because, in which patients cannot produce enough tears after the surgery. This painful condition can be treated by frequent use of eye drops or, in some cases, use of punctal eye plugs. Those plugs are surgically placed in the drainage tubes of the eyes to prevent the rapid drainage of tears from the surface of the eye.
Complications
During LASIK laser eye surgery, a hinged flap is cut into the surface of the eyeball. According to the FDA, one danger during surgery is that the flap can be completely cut off and the surgery must be stopped without achieving correction. Depending on the damage and how the flap heals, further surgery may not be possible.
According to the Canadian government's Health Canada website, hc-sc.gc.ca, corneal estasia is another dangerous complication of laser eye surgery. If corneal tissue is too thin, cutting it may weaken the cornea, causing it to bulge from the surface of the eyeball. In severe cases, a corneal transplant may be needed.
Inflammation and infection of the eyes is another possible danger from laser eye surgery. After surgery, your doctor will give you steroids to control inflammation and antibiotic eye drops to prevent infection which must be used exactly as prescribed for a period of days or weeks.
