Purpose: To identify intraoperative and early postoperative adverse events and complications that may be encountered after the laser in-situ keratomileusis (LASIK) learning process.
Methods: One hundred sixty-nine consecutive eyes of 108 patients who had LASIK by a surgeon experienced in LASIK were studied. All intraoperative and early postoperative adverse events and complications were noted. Patients were examined at 1 day and 1 to 3 months after surgery. Six baseline refractive groups were studied: high myopia with astigmatism (-10.25 to -17.50 D; 18 eyes), moderate myopia with astigmatism (-6.00 to -9.50 D; 31 eyes), low myopia with astigmatism (-0.75 to -5.87 D; 81 eyes), mixed astigmatism (-0.25 to +0.50 D; 6 eyes), low to moderate hyperopia with astigmatism (+1.00 to +3.75 D; 19 eyes), and high hyperopia with astigmatism (+4.25 to +7.37 D; 12 eyes). Seventy-eight percent (132 eyes) had a primary LASIK procedure; 22% (37 eyes) had LASIK after previous refractive surgery. Primary and secondary LASIK procedures were analyzed together. The Nidek EC-5000 or the Chiron PlanoScan excimer lasers were used.
Results: The most commonly observed adverse intraoperative events were minor corneal bleeding (3%) and thin flap (1%). The most commonly observed postoperative events were punctate epithelial keratopathy (6%) and small epithelial defect 1 day after surgery (5%). The most serious complication occurred in three eyes with preoperative high hyperopia (spherical equivalent refraction greater than +4.00 D) in which corneal topographic abnormalities resulted. At last examination, mean postoperative spherical equivalent refraction was less than +1.00 D in all groups. Spectacle-corrected visual acuity was 20/20 in 70 eyes (41%) and 20/25 or better in 119 eyes (70%). Loss of spectacle-corrected visual acuity of two or more lines occurred in five eyes (3%), three of which had preoperative high hyperopia with abnormal postoperative corneal topography.
Conclusion: Our prospective study should help LASIK surgeons gauge their expectations of intraoperative and early postoperative complications. Surgeons should proceed cautiously when treating patients with high hyperopia, because a higher incidence of loss of spectacle-corrected visual acuity may be encountered postoperatively.