There seems to be no end to where technology can take us. We all think nothing of using home PCs and the Internet these days and if we are tired of using contacts or eyeglasses in many cases we can just have laser eye surgery performed to eradicate the problem.

It is no secret these days that laser eye surgery can be in many cases a very good way for people to forego the struggle of having to live with bad eyesight.

On the other hand, like any other medical procedure or treatment, there are complications that can take place when having laser eye surgery.

In this article we will discuss these risks and complications and talk about what can be done in each instance.

Possible Risks

Besides the commonly known complications in laser eye surgery such as over and under correction, there are other more rare complications that can take place.

In some cases the laser used during surgery doesn’t remove the tissue in a uniform manner and so areas of tissue end up raised up and form Central Corneal Islands. Luckily only 1% of patients generally suffer from this.

If it does occur in some cases you can have follow up correction surgery to put it right, but if it is not possible you may end up having to wear contact lenses to correct the problem.

Another complication can be DLK (diffuse lamellar keratitis). This generally happens when certain foreign bodies become trapped in the corneal flap.

Because of this, the patient could experience pain, blurred vision, sensitivity to light, or have the ongoing sensation that there has been something trapped inside his or her eyes.

If a patient finds him or her self subject to these symptoms, he or she should waste no time in contacting his or her doctor even if the surgery was performed a long time ago. Normally this can be remedied with the subscription of oral and topical medication.

Another complication that can take place after the surgery is the appearance of epithelial in-growths under the corneal flap. If this starts to occur vision can be affected significantly.

The corneal ecstasia is another complication that can essentially weaken the cornea and make it bulge out after the surgery. This is caused by an error in judgment by the surgeon when a deeper incision than necessary is created during the flap creation process. It can also occur when the surgeon removes more corneal tissue than necessary.

Unfortunately, for this type of laser eye surgery complication, it can only be put right with a corneal transplant.

After reading this article you may be feeling a little more uncertain about laser eye surgery. Nevertheless it is important to remember that these complications only take place a very small percentage of the time. But of course before undergoing surgery you should evaluate whether it’s worth that small risk to you.

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