LASIK Surgery Review Addresses Complications

Proper patient selection and management can help minimize risk

MONDAY, April 17 (HealthDay News) -- Like other procedures, LASIK surgery can result in complications that threaten otherwise healthy eyes, but proper patient selection and care before, during and after surgery can help minimize the risk, according to a review in the April issue of American Journal of Ophthalmology. The report addresses recognition and management of four major groups of complications.

Steven C. Schallhorn, M.D., from the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, and colleagues conducted a comprehensive review of 816 reports discussing LASIK complications published between 1992 and 2005.

Problems with LASIK surgery can arise from keratome and flap complications; laser complications; complications from healing, infection or inflammation; and other problems such as obtaining accurate postoperative intraocular pressure measurements. The authors suggest or refer to proper management for each complication.

"Advancing our understanding of the prevention and management of the complications of LASIK is an endeavor that must be continued as long as refractive surgery is performed," the authors write.

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