COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Nearly a quarter to a third of patients that underwent LASIK surgery reported problems seeing at night, a new study suggests. Even so, 97 percent of the subjects said they would recommend LASIK to a friend.

Scientists at Ohio State University analyzed data from 605 patients who had undergone LASIK (laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis) surgery at least six months earlier. Reported vision problems included seeing halos, starbursts and glare surrounding lights - problems that can affect the quality of vision at night.

The study showed that these symptoms may persist in some patients long after the eye heals. Such symptoms seemed to be linked to having had the surgery repeated, said Melissa Bailey, a study co-author and a postdoctoral fellow in vision science at Ohio State.

"Patients who had undergone the procedure again were generally less happy with the outcomes than those who had the surgery only once, although we're unsure why," she said.

Bailey presented the findings in December at the annual American Academy of Optometry meeting in Philadelphia. She conducted the research with statistician G. Lynn Mitchell and associate professor of optometry Karla Zadnik, both with the College of Optometry at Ohio State.

More than a million nearsighted Americans elected to undergo LASIK surgery
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Contact: Melissa Bailey
MBailey@optometry.osu.edu
614-247-6870
Ohio State University
14-Jan-2002