Intraoperative and postoperative complications after laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK)

Purpose: To quantify the incidence and type of complications after LASIK fo r the correction of myopia with special consideration to the time lapse aft er surgery and the possible consequences regarding high-contrast sensitivit y and other modalities of visual acuity. Material and methods: Between January 1995 and April 1997, 125 eyes of 88 p atients with myopia greater than -6.0 D who could not wear contact lenses w ere operated on at our institute. in this prospective study the patients we re examined consecutively preoperatively as well as postoperatively at day 4 and months 1, 3 and 6. The complications were divided into three groups ( intraoperative, early postoperative and late postoperative). Results: Our complication rate was 7.2 % (loss of 2 lines of visual acuity) - with cutting artifacts related to the microkeratome, wrinkling of the fl ap and epthelial ingrowth. Conclusions: LASIK is a microsurgical procedure that requires adequate expe rience and the desire by the surgeon for self-evaluation. In spite of the g ood clinical results in the correction of high myopia the complication rate s seems still to be too high. This should be the objective for further impr ovement primarily related to the microkeratomes.