Background: Several Laser in-situ keratomileusis (LASIK) complications were identified over the years. Reporting complications of LASIK surgery will help refine the approach to their management.
Objectives: Purpose of this study is to assess incidences, possible etiology of the intra-operative and early post-operative complications of LASIK
Patients and methods: a cross-sectional study for the correction of refractive errors was performed on 378 eyes of 189 individuals who underwent LASIK refractive surgery in private LASIK centers (AlForsan and El-Nour) between January, 2021 and January, 2022.
Results: intra-operatively, the majority of cases (81.5%) had no intra-operative complications. Flap-related complications were found in 7 cases (1.85%), interface complications were found in 11 cases (3%). The most common complication found in 41 cases (10.8%) was bleeding.
Post-operatively, the majority of cases had no complications at 1st day, 1st month and 3rd month (94.2%, 98.7% and 99.5% respectively). At 1st day, there were debris and flap complications (3.6% and 1.7%, respectively). At 1st month, dry eyes and under-correction complications were present (0.5% and 0.8%, respectively). At 3rd month, only two cases showed dry eyes (0.5%).
Conclusion: The goal of this study was to showcase the rates of complications over a period of time. We found that there was statistically significant decrease in rates of complications over time (P< 0.001). The majority of cases had no intra-operative complications. The majority of cases had no complications at 1st day, 1st month and 3rd month. Overall rates of complications of LASIK are still relatively rare.