A new study from the U.S. FDA has found while the overall prevalence of visual and dry eye symptoms decreased following LASIK surgery, a substantial percentage of patients reported new visual symptoms — including double images, glare, halos and/or starbursts — after surgery.
The FDA's findings included results from two studies that had participants complete self-administered, web-based questionnaires preoperatively and postoperatively — the PROWL-1 study was conducted at one and three months, and PROWL-2 at six months.
Of those reporting new visual symptoms after surgery, 43 percent were from the PROWL-1 study and 46 percent from the PROWL-2 study at three months. The study also reportedly found of participants who had normal Ocular Surface Disease scores at baseline in both studies, about 28 percent had mild, moderate, or severe dry eye symptoms at three months.
And when asked about how satisfied they were about their surgery, the rates of dissatisfaction with vision reportedly ranged from 1 to 4 percent, and the rates of dissatisfaction with surgery ranged from 1 to 2 percent.
The study was recently published online by JAMA Ophthalmology.
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Source: JAMA Ophthalmology