Lasik Complications

Although comparatively rare, complications because of Lasik surgery do happen. On the good side, there has never been any reported case of blindness after a PRK or Lasik surgery.

One of the most common complications that can occur is known as the ‘Halo Effect’. This effect, noticed only in the night, results in seeing double faded images of an object. Hence, it can cause problems while driving at night. An infection or delayed healing can also take place, which results in discomfort. But the chances of this are less as 0.1%, with no long-term effects. Different eyes need different extents of correction. Sometimes it is difficult to predict in advance how the eye will respond to Lasik surgery.

In some cases, due to undercorrection or overcorrection, lenses or spectacles might still be needed after the procedure. Some patients complain that the vision obtained with the help of lenses was better than the one achieved after the Lasik surgery. A normal healing process after Lasik surgery involves corneal haze. But sometimes cases of excessive corneal haze are found, which can be dealt with through Lasik treatment.

For a few patients, the result of Lasik surgery gradually decreases and is completely lost over some months. This phenomenon, called regression, can be solved by a re-treatment. Another complication includes damage to the corneal flap. In this case, the flap can be replaced once the treatment is over. Yet there is a small risk of the flap getting damaged or lost. In rare cases, equipment malfunction could lead to discontinuation of the procedure before its completion, which could cause problems owing to the complexity of Lasik surgery.

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