What are the main risks of undergoing LASIK for high myopia?

Current options available for laser vision correction include corneal flap-based procedures like LASIK, and also no flap, Advanced Surface Ablation (ASA) methods like TransPRK. During LASIK, the doctor will have to cut your cornea to create an external flap using either a blade or a Femtosecond laser (bladeless LASIK). Whether using a blade or the laser, there will still be a cut corneal flap and this will result in cut corneal nerve endings, increasing the risk of procedure-induced dry eyes. This, together with flap complications, are the main disadvantages of LASIK.

Hi Karen! Thanks for reaching out. Your myopia sounds very severe! It’s important in patients who report severely high degrees of myopia to consider concomitant ocular or systemic disorders including Marfans, Weil-Marchesani, Sticklers / Wagners syndrome etcetera. Such conditions don’t automatically disqualify you from refractive surgery, however a comprehensive assessment would be required to exclude these conditions. Even patients with severe myopia alone may have concomitant problems like retinal holes or detachment, early cataracts or retinal pathology.