Life After LASIK Eye Surgery

Life After LASIK Eye Surgery

Unfortunately many people have had unacceptable results from LASIK and other refractive surgical procedures (PRK, RK, and others). Countless post LASIK patients complain of dry eye, night time glare/halos, blurry vision, double vision, and wonder why there vision is not sharp and clear. While many LASIK procedures are successful, the statistics are increasing for dissatisfied patients and those now experiencing visual symptoms. According to an FDA spokesperson “Given the large number of patients undergoing LASIK annually, dissatisfaction and disabling symptoms may occur in a significant number of patients.”

Together with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducted the LASIK Quality of Life Collaboration Project (LQOLCP).

The study had two groups of Patient-Reported Outcomes With LASIK (PROWL):

PROWL-1 was conducted at the Navy Refractive Surgery Center in San Diego, CA.

  • Active duty military patients
  • No cost to patients
  • Standardized approach

PROWL-2 was conducted at 5 clinical sites across the U.S.

  • 20/20 Institute (Indiana)
  • Durrie Vision (Kansas)
  • Johns Hopkins University, Wilmer Eye Clinic (Maryland)
  • Stanford University (California)
  • Vance Thompson Vision (South Dakota)

Summary of the findings:

  • LASIK Dry Eye: Up to 30 % of the subjects developed new dry eye symptoms.
  • LASIK Symptoms: 45% of the subjects, who were symptom free prior to LASIK, developed symptoms post LASIK. (halos, starbursts, glare, and ghosting)
  • LASIK Dissatisfaction: Up to 4 % of the subjects were dissatisfied with their vision post LASIK.
  • LASIK Dissatisfaction: Up to 1% of the subjects visual symptoms caused extreme difficulty to do usual activities.

Based on these results the FDA stated “Given the large number of patients undergoing LASIK annually, dissatisfaction and disabling symptoms may occur in a significant number of patients.”

If you or a loved one have had LASIK Eye Surgery and are dissatisfied with your vision contact Dr. Irwin Azman today!