Irritating surgery - Health & Medicine - warning about LASIK surgery

American Fitness, March-April, 2002

If you are considering LASIK surgery to correct your vision, read this warning from an article in the July 2001 issue of Opthalmology, a clinical journal of the American Academy of Opthalmology--patients risk developing ongoing ocular irritation symptoms similar to dry eye due to the disruption of tear production. Also, patients who are experiencing reduced ocular sensitivity as a result of long-term contact lens wear may take years, if ever, to regain normal ocular surface sensitivity.

The author's warnings stem from a study in which they evaluated 14 men and 34 women who underwent bilateral LASIK for myopia or myopic astigmatism. "The most striking finding in this study was the progressive decrease in tear clearance after LASIK," says Lisa Battat, M.D., Director of Cornea and Refractive Surgery and lead author of the study. "The delay in tear clearance observed in these LASIK patients may result from a number of factors, including decreased blink rate caused by bilateral corneal denervation [sensory nerve amputation] and resultant increased tear film evaporation." Many of those studied reported fluctuating vision was improved by blinking or using artificial tears.

For more information on refractive surgery, visit www.medem.com.