Like all surgeries, laser eye surgery too has its own risks. No surgery is ever ‘risk free’. Certain complications arise, and in some cases, people suffer certain conditions after laser eye surgery. If you are contemplating laser eye surgery, you are well advised to know the risks involved:

Improper focusing of light

Laser eye surgery is centered on the pupil and any de-centered incision will result in improper focusing of light. Many lasers have an eye-tracking beam to reduce any possibility of de-centered ablation.

Accelerating cataract clouding

Although a natural occurrence brought on by age, cataract – the clouding of the crystalline lens – can be brought on faster by the invasive laser eye surgery.

Under correction due to room temperature

Temperature and humidity of the laser room, hydration of the cornea during surgery and calibration of laser could result in under-correction. This would require additional laser treatment after three months to allow the results to stabilize. Though rare, over-correction can change a myopic condition to a hyperopic condition. This too can be corrected with a further surgery.

Astigmatism

Some times surgery can cause Astigmatism. Although the reasons are not known, the alignment of the patient’s eye and uniformity of the laser beam could be the reasons. This can be corrected by glasses or gas permeable contact lenses.

Loss of visual acuity

There could be loss of visual acuity. Assume that a pre-operative vision of 20/400 without glasses and contact lenses, and a 20/20 vision with them, improves after laser surgery to 20/30 without glasses and contact lenses, and 20/20 vision with thinner glasses and contact lenses. You would have lost visual acuity if the 20/30 post surgery vision cannot be improved even with glasses and contact lenses. This may happen in 5% of the low to medium Myopia patients.

Corneal haze condition

You could develop a corneal haze, a ground-glass like appearance, after laser eye surgery. A minor haze could be taken care with anti-inflammatory eye drops. A more dense haze may require re-surgery.

Decrease in night time vision

You may experience a decrease in night time vision, halos and star bursts etc. There may be reduced brightness and glare. In very rare cases, there is always a possibility of blindness and a probable sight-threatening infection, endophthalmitis.

Laser eye surgery is normally safe, but there is always a risk of post-operative infections. Normally, these do not have long term complications, and are usually treated with eye drops. If undecided about the risks of laser eye surgery, discuss the pros and cons with your ophthalmologist.

With so many cases in eye defects there might be a possibility that you or any loved one of yours is seeking for laser treatment. The other name for lasik treatment is the refractive surgery which focuses on the correction of vision. It results in clear vision, that too, without any uncomfortable specs or contact lenses. It is very obvious to have several questions in the mind about the procedure before the actual surgery. Many regional centre like Lasik Denver provides free consultancy to sort out all the queries in the candidate’s mind.

Am I a good candidate, how can the treatment be scheduled in our busy routines, is the laser procedure wallet-friendly and is the it the right decision to serve my requirements? These are some questions that generally arise in a candidate’s mind and the solution lies in Denver’s eye institute. Being an adult and some pre-surgery tests answers the question of being an apt candidate. Laser eye surgery only needs 15 minutes for both eyes and one can resume driving in 24 hours along with few post-surgery precautions. This solves another query of the candidate. The surgery costs generally varies from 1000$ to 1500$ per eye. Even if it does not suits the candidates pocket, the 0% financing terms of helps him to get through it. The right procedure is generally suggested by the experts which suits the requirements of the candidate. Hence, this experts den always provides with all the solution of the queries.

Apart from lasik and refractive surgery, this experts den, provide treatment cataract, Glaucoma, Cornea Repair and other eye conditions. Cataract has always been a major reason of vision loss among aged people. Though it is a natural phenomenon, it is curable in modern world. Not only Denver, rather lasik California also provides treatment for cataract. During cataract surgery, surgeon removes the affected lens and replaces it with a new, clear, plastic and intraocular lens. It becomes painless procedure under the effect of local anesthesia.

Similarly glaucoma treatment, cornea repair and other eye conditions (dry eye syndrome, macular degeneration, etc) are also available at Denver. Rather it have fellowship trained glaucoma specialist on staff. It can be called as experts den as it so many experts are associated with this laser eye institute. Each treatment has its own experts. Few of which may be enlisted as Dr. Vicki Coulter (M.D.), Dr. Larry Kreider (M.D.), Dr. Rajiv Kumar (M.D.), Dr. Kathy Milano (O.D). Only few names can be enlisted here, but actually it proves to be an experts den.

Except for visual benefits and technological improvements of laser eye surgery, there are still certain risks and complications of the surgery. Patients who are considering a laser eye surgery should be very clear of both the surgical options and potential risks through making a thorough discussion with the surgeon. Some problems are widely reported on corrective laser eye surgery.

In most cases, laser eye surgery can create clear vision and remove the need of eyeglasses or contact lenses. However, the surgery can not ensure a 100% success rate that there are still certain vision correction issues. It is hard to predict the level of effectiveness of a specific surgery. In very rare cases, some people report a worsened vision or little effect from the surgery. And some patients can still not get rid of corrective lenses.

Corneal haze is another side effect that occurs during the healing process of PRK or LASIK procedure. Corneal haze can cause a fuzzy and affect the vision. Fortunately, this condition is usually not serious and will go away on its own. No permanent visual effect will be left. However, there are also rare cases that corneal haze does not resolve itself, which requires further laser treatment.

Eye infections are also rare in laser eye surgery. Common consequences of an eye infection include discomfort and delayed healing process. Modern technologies can actually control the infection rate at a quite low level.

Halo effect is also one of the potential complications of LASIK or PRK procedure. It is widely known that halo effects usually occur in low light and dark conditions. Those LASIK recipients who suffer halo effect always have difficulty in night driving. Actually this effect is caused by the pupil enlarging.

Flap complications are only possible in LASIK recipients, because only LASIK cut a corneal flap during the surgery. Potential flap complications include damage to the flap and complete loss of the flap, which are caused by flap detachment or tearing.

Some patients also report that the visual effects of laser eye surgery gradually regress over time. In this case, a second surgery is needed.

There are various treatments available for the different manifestations of diabetic retinopathy. It used to be that laser treatment, of one form or the other, was the treatment of choice. Nowadays, there are intraocular injections of steroids, anti-VEGF medications, in addition to the traditional laser. Very soon, sustained release drug delivery systems will be an option, too.

Laser Treatment used to be the mainstay for treating macular edema, that is, swelling of the retina caused by leaky retinal blood vessels. The macular edema is the most common way diabetic patients can lose vision and it happens to almost every patient. If the swelling develops right in the center of the retina, called the macula, the vision may become blurred. The more severe the swelling, the more blurred the vision.

Retinal swelling can be treated with laser treatment. While this does not ensure that vision will improve, it is quite possible that the loss of vision is stopped.

Intraocular injections of either steroids, and “anti-VEGF” medications, are becoming more popular amongst retina specialists for the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME). Both agents are delivered as an injection straight into the eye and have been shown to be highly effective in reversing the macular edema. While they may not yet have supplanted traditional laser therapy, both are becoming viable alternatives.

Steroids are very effective in reversing macular edema. It seems as though inflammation plays a role in the “leaky” blood vessels common in diabetic macular edema. Steroids are great at blocking inflammation.

“Anti-VEGF” medications are antibody-like molecules that are directed against Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF). VEGF acts on normal blood vessels to make them leaky. (VEGF also causes abnormal blood vessels to grow along the surface of the retina and other internal structures of the eye, but see below). By blocking VEGF from working by injecting “anti-VEGF” drugs, the leakage seems to stop, thereby improving the retinal swelling and vision.

Popular “anti-VEGF” medications including Macugen, Lucentis and Avastin.

Pan-Retinal Photocoagulation (PRP) is a method of using the laser to arrest the potential blinding effects of proliferative diabetic retinopathy. This, for now, remains the best treatment for stabilizing the retina. In far advanced stages, a diabetic retinal detachment may form and vitrectomy eye surgery may be necessary to prevent blindness.

Sustained Release Drug Delivery systems are presently being developed that will release drugs inside the eye for months at a time. One such system, called Ozurdex; (Allergan) is already FDA approved, but not for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy. Other products are in development that will be used for the treatment of diabetic macular edema.

If you are excited about the prospect of laser eye treatment, you should curb your enthusiasm for a moment and educate yourself about the risks of the surgery.

If you have less than perfect vision, there is a good chance you are curious about laser eye surgery. But choosing to get it done is a big decision as treatment is extremely expensive and results of the procedure are permanent. Therefore it is important to know if the reality of what laser eye treatment can achieve matches your expectations, in order to avoid disappointment.

Many people assume that laser eye surgery results in perfect 20/20 vision for most patients but this is, sadly, untrue. However, this is not to say that the outcome of surgery is not extremely good for most people. Approximately nine out of ten patients will have their sight improved to an extent where they no longer have to wear glasses or contact lenses after the procedure, at least during daylight hours. A common side effect of surgery is poor night vision, which causes the person to see a halo effect around lights and means wearing glasses for driving after dark is an absolute necessity.

It is also imperative that a person understands the exact meaning of ‘permanent results’ is when it relates to laser eye treatment. The outcome of the surgery is permanent, in that the correction made to your eyes and therefore your vision will not change. But ‘permanent’ does not mean life long perfect eyesight, as laser eye surgery cannot prevent natural deterioration in vision as a person ages. Even patients with the best surgery results are likely to require reading glasses by the age of 45. However, it should be remembered that most people will enjoy many years of excellent eyesight before this deterioration, and even after glasses become a necessity again their eyesight will still be significantly better than it would have been had they never had the procedure.

The results of surgery are largely dependent on the person’s eye sight before treatment. Realistically those with extremely poor vision, while they may still notice a significant improvement, may still need glasses after surgery. Patients who are very short sighted (-8 or greater) or long sighted (+2 or more) may be advised by their consultant not to undergo laser eye treatment as the results are likely to be unsatisfactory.

While the results of treatment are generally very good and technology is always improving, patients need to bear in mind that the procedure does not always go to plan. Even good candidates for laser eye treatment may not receive the perfect sight they were hoping for as under or over correction is a fairly common problem.

Laser eye surgery may not give most patients flawless vision, but satisfaction rates are high. If you have had bad eye sight for many years the novelty of not having to wear glasses at all times can make the cost of treatment very worth while. Realistic expectations will mean a patient’s satisfaction is even greater.