To answer this question, let’s take a step back and look at what happened in the past.
When we first started doing LASIK, all patients were operated on, one eye at a time. Among the reasons for this were the following:
1. We were worried about infections or other serious complications, the hope being that if a complication occurred, it would only occur in one eye and not the other.
2. We were unsure about the accuracy of the lasers used. If the first eye had residual spectacle power, then doing the other eye at a different time would allow the second treatment to be adjusted as necessary to take into account any inaccuracy in the first eye.
But for perhaps the past 10 years, the vast majority of patients already have both eyes operated on at the same sitting. This is because most of the early concerns have proven to be unfounded.
The risks of serious complications like infection are extremely low, and lasers are extremely accurate nowadays.
I used to operate on patients one eye at a time until about 5 years ago, and during the latter stages never had to adjust the treatment for the second eye because there was something wrong with the treatment for the first eye.
The other reason to operate on both eyes at the same time would be for logistical reasons. If both eyes are operated on at the same time, the number of clinic visits is cut by half, therefore minimizing downtime for the typical busy patient.
All things considered, the most important factor is safety, and it is now generally considered safe enough to operate on both eyes at the same time.
Having said all that, if a patient is uncomfortable with same day surgery for both eyes, I will always be happy to do each eye for the patient on different days ie patients’ needs, concerns and priorities always come first.
