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Laser Vision Surgery Can Make Dry Eyes Worse

A report in the August 2002 issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology finds that people with dry-eye syndrome who undergo the vision correction surgery LASIK run the risk of making their condition worse.

Lead researcher Dr. Ikuko Toda, of Tokyo, Japan reports that aside from wanting better vision, many people want the surgery because they are having trouble wearing contacts because of dry-eye syndrome.

This study shows that may not be the case. Follow-up on 290 patients with dry-eye syndrome who had LASIK surgery revealed that while they saw the same improvement as other patients, their dry-eye syndrome worsened throughout the year after surgery.

Guidelines from the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery label patients with dry-eye syndrome as “less-than-ideal” candidates for LASIK due to this risk.

The researchers note that patients who want the surgery because dry-eye syndrome makes contact wearing difficult should be warned that their condition may instead get worse.

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