The Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery cautions that success rates can vary from patient to patient, but the average success rate of LASIK surgery hovers between 92 percent and 96 percent (that is, between 92 percent and 96 percent of patients achieve 20/40 vision, or even better).
LASIK Complications and LASIK Side Effects: Key Takeaways
Serious LASIK complications are extremely rare, occurring in less than 1 percent of procedures. Most side effects from LASIK are part of the normal healing process and go away over time.
In fact, LASIK is one of the safest elective surgical procedures available today, with a complication rate estimated to be less than 1%.
If the LASIK flap is not made correctly, it may fail to adhere properly to the eye's surface or microscopic wrinkles called striae (STRIE-ee) could develop in the flap. These flap complications can cause optical aberrations and distorted vision.
Generally, there is no cap or specific number of times a person can undergo LASIK surgery.
In general, there is no limit on how many LASIK procedures you can get in your lifetime. Several factors affect whether or not you are a good candidate for enhancement surgery. The thickness of the cornea is one of the main determinations regarding the safety of multiple LASIK surgeries.
Is it possible to have LASIK surgery twice? The short answer is yes, though this is usually only done 5 – 10 years after the initial treatment. However, rest assured that LASIK offers long-term vision correction, and very few people require a second session.
This can be repaired by corneal laser reconstruction using topographic guided ablation, or WaveLight Contoura which will fix the decentration and the visual problems.
LASIK permanently corrects the vision prescription that you have at the time of surgery. This means that it cannot wear off. However, any underlying conditions such as presbyopia that progress over time can cause changes to your vision, making the original LASIK procedure less effective.
One sign of Lasik surgery failure is pressure-induced stromal keratitis (PISK). PISK is an inflammatory reaction caused by the instruments used during the procedure that can erode the corneal stroma. This condition can occur within days or sometimes even years after the surgery.
Are there any risks? Most people have some visual side effects and discomfort in the weeks or months after surgery but these should gradually settle down. Serious complications are more common after RLE than after laser eye surgery or PIOL surgery. About 1 in 500 people have significant loss of vision after RLE.
As we mentioned above, the laser makes permanent changes to the shape of the cornea. This cannot be reversed; however, sometimes vision can continue to change as a person ages. In this case, you may notice changes to your vision over the years even if you've undergone Lasik surgery.
Generally speaking, most LASIK eye surgeons agree on 25-40 as the ideal age range for LASIK eye surgery candidacy for a few reasons. By the age of 25, eyeglasses and contact lens prescriptions have most likely stabilized. A stable prescription is one of the hallmarks of a good LASIK candidate.
How Often Does LASIK Not Work? Typically less than 5 percent of the time, LASIK doesn't meet the patient's expectations for vision improvement. For those patients, even after healing, there may be some residual nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism.
If a second procedure has been deemed necessary, another flap will be created. Most surgeons won't perform a second LASIK procedure unless it's 5-10 years after LASIK.
With modern LASIK, the enhancement rate is 1-2 percent in the first 12 months and then about 1 percent a year after that as patients' eyes can change with time. So, for example, 10 years after LASIK, approximately 10 percent of patients may require an enhancement procedure to maintain their excellent vision.
Undergoing a LASIK surgery touch-up is uncommon but not unheard of. These procedures are very similar to the original LASIK procedure.
LASIK and other procedures also can sometimes cause irregular astigmatism, with accompanying blurred and/or distorted vision. Fortunately, for most people who have a less-than-perfect vision after refractive surgery, these problems are quite mild and usually tolerable.
Being 40 or older doesn't disqualify you from getting LASIK and enjoying the benefits. The best LASIK eye surgery candidates are adults that have had a stable vision prescription for two years.
Recurrence of myopia after myopic LASIK reduces the outcome of the procedure. Important causes include post-LASIK ectasia, regression of myopia, accommodative strain, and lens or axial length changes.
You have a disease or are on medications that may affect wound healing. Certain conditions, such as autoimmune diseases (e.g., lupus, rheumatoid arthritis), immunodeficiency states (e.g., HIV) and diabetes, and some medications (e.g., retinoic acid and steroids) may prevent proper healing after a refractive procedure.
Younger eyes haven't stabilized
It's not recommended to undergo LASIK or another vision correction procedure if you're under the age of 18. This is because the eyes are still growing during your childhood and teens, WebMD explains. This means they may still change shape, which can alter your prescription.
The effects of laser eye surgery generally last for life, but a small percentage of patients might experience regression and therefore benefit from an enhancement or secondary procedure.
Once the full healing process after Eye LASIK surgery has been completed, your optimum visual acuity will be reached. After 3 to 6 months your eyesight will have reached its optimum benefit from the surgery. In many cases 20/20 vision is achieved, but some patients find they need reading glasses for close work.