This large, 10 year study of over 20,000 nearsighted patients undergoing LASIK suggests LASIK does not increase the risk of retinal detachment. A patient from San Luis Obispo asked me me an excellent question today. She asked whether LASIK causes retinal detachments.
It turns out this is a very good question because nearsighted people already have a higher risk of retinal detachment even without having any surgery at all. Most ophthalmologists feel this is because nearsighted people have longer eyes, which makes the retina thinner and more stretched out. This, in turn, makes the retina more fragile and prone to develop retinal detachment. The question is whether having LASIK further increases the risk of retinal detachment. The answer, at least according to an important new study, appears to be that LASIK does not increase the risk of retinal detachment.
Just this week, Dr. J Fernando Arevalo of Venezuela presented the results of a huge study at the World Ophthalmology Congress in Abu Dhabi that looked at this question. Dr. Arevalo’s study looked at the 10 year follow up of 22,296 patients undergoing LASIK for nearsightedness. After 10 years, 11,594 of these patients were available for follow up, which is surprisingly good number given the long time period involved. Of these 11,594 patients who had undergone LASIK, only 22 eyes (in 19 patients) had developed retinal detachment over the decade since surgery. This data showed a rate of retinal detachment of 0.19%.
Remember, though, that nearsighted people are already at risk for retinal detachment simply by being nearsighted even if they don’t have LASIK. Dr. Arevalo pointed out in his presentation that the the rate of retinal detachment in the general nearsighted population not having any surgery at all is between 0.70% up to 6.00% over a similar time period. In other words, LASIK patients actually had a lower rate or retinal detachment than non-LASIK patients. It is hard for me to see how LASIK would lower the retinal detachment rate, but it does show, at least in this huge study, that LASIK does not appear to increase the retinal detachment rate in the nearsighted population.
See Also
Ten-year Retrospective Analysis Shows Low Retinal Detachment Rate Following LASIK
This ten year study shows nearsighted LASIK patients actually had a lower chance of developing retinal detachment than the general nearsighted population.
LASIK and Retinal Detachment
This blog site discusses the relationship of LASIK and retinal detachment
Retinal Detachment After LASIK for the Correction of Myopia
This paper, also by Dr. Arevalo, discusses a case of retinal detachment after LASIK
Proposed Mechanism for Retinal Tears after LASIK
This paper uses theoretical modeling systems to explore how LASIK could trigger a retinal detachment.
Relation of Pre-LASIK and Post-LASIK Retinal Lesions and Retinal Examination for LASIK Eyes
This paper looks at the before and after examination of the retina in the setting of LASIK
Retinal Detachment in Myopic Eyes After LASIK
This large study found a retinal detachment rate of 0.06% in 31,739 patients undergoing LASIK followed for a mean of 3 years.
Retinal Detachment
This blog post looks at retinal detachment and LASIK in a clinical setting.