As mentioned before the risks and complications that can occur during Lasik eye surgery are rare and usually reversible. However, you should know them and the reasons that cause them to happen.

Pre operative Problems

Before surgery, problems such as having a dry eye or an eye infection could prevent you from having Lasik surgery. In addition, surgeons recommend not using contact lenses for a week before the surgery, and you should of course, follow any recommendations that they issue to avoid any risk of complication.

Intra-operative Complications

Intra-operative complications may occur due to the surgeon’s lack of experience, or lack hygiene in the operating theatre. A slipped flap is one of the most common complications in this surgery, this is when a corneal flap detaches itself from the rest of the cornea. It usually happens after the surgery itself and the surgeon usually advises the patient to go back home and rest in order to give the corneal flap a chance to heal.

Postoperative Complications

After the operation, the patient may suffer from an eye infection, usually found under the corneal flap. This may be because of the patient himself doesn’t take the appropriate steps to ensure that he doesn’t expose the eye to any unnecessary dust, smoke etc. It is essential therefore, to follow the doctor’s instructions carefully. However, antibiotics can usually clear any eye infections.  Sometimes the patient has Keratoconus (a genetic condition that causes the cornea to become thinner after the surgery). The surgeon usually notices this when performing the initial eye examination. The possibility of developing a persistent dry eye is about 28% for Asians, and 5% for Caucasians. Dry eye usually occurs because of the reduction of the corneal nerve fibers’ number after the surgery to half their original number, and since they are responsible for the production of tears, the eye can subsequently dry up. There is also a possibility of a sub-conjunctival haemorrhage.

Other Complications

There are other factors that may affect the outcomes of the lasik surgery. One of them is the reduced corneal absorption of oxygen resulting from using low oxygen permeable contact lenses, this results in corneal neovascularization (the growth of blood vessels into the cornea), which is supposed to be avascular and transparent to function normally. This causes a mild increase in inflammation and in the healing period. This may also result in some discomfort felt during the surgery, due to the augmented bleeding. Another factor that may interfere with the results of the surgery is the temperature and humidity, this may be both during the procedure and before it by two weeks.

If all of this has put you off having lasik surgery, just remember that thousands of people have had lasik eye surgery sucessfully and the old adage of “forearmed is forewarned” is paramount.  Ask as many questions of your lasik surgeon as you feel necessary before going ahead, search the internet for any possible answers to questions you may have and don’t forget that most of the lasik complications mentioned above have a solution.