LASIK 5 years on…

LASIK is a safe and effective procedure in the correction of myopia five years after surgery, according to a study in the September issue of Ophthalmology.

Naoko Kato and colleagues from the Minamiaoyama Eye Clinic and Keio University, Japan, examined 779 eyes of 402 patients with myopia or myopic astigmatism undergoing LASIK during a five-year period. Changes in uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA), manifest refraction, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), intraocular pressure (IOP), corneal thickness, corneal endothelial cell counts and complications were recorded at one week, one, three and six months, and once a year postoperatively.

UCVA improved from 1.27 preoperatively to -0.03 at one day following surgery and -0.08 at one month, with minimal but significant decreases occurring thereafter. Postoperative manifest refraction showed minimal but significant regression after one year. Final BCVA loss was seen in 10 eyes of seven patients. IOP and corneal thickness decreased by 4.0 mmHg and 76.9 µm, respectively as a result of LASIK but remained stable over the follow-up period. Corneal endothelial cell counts demonstrated a significant reduction at five years after surgery, which the researchers believe was likely to be the result of physiological age-related loss. No serious complications were observed.

It was the conclusion of the authors that LASIK is a safe and effective procedure for correcting myopia and myopic astigmatism as long as inclusion and exclusion criteria are respected. However, the researchers did point out that minimal regression is likely to occur over the five-year period.