Is the beam in your eye safe?

"Around 100,000 laser eye surgery procedures are carried out annually in Britain, making it the most common eye operation after cataracts. The vast majority of patients now opt for Lasik (laser assisted in situ keratomileusis) which involves cutting a thin flap in the cornea and removing a small amount of tissue underneath with a laser in order to reshape the eye and improve focusing.
'Laser refractive surgery has developed almost beyond recognition and we can now eliminate many of the complications that used to be common,' says David Gartry, consultant corneal surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital, who in 1989 performed the first laser procedure for myopia in the UK.
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'It has to be a very safe procedure because the eyes we are operating on are normal and healthy: we are not treating disease.'
Although well over 90 per cent of patients are delighted with the results of their treatment, complications can occur. According to Nice, about six Lasik patients in 1,000 will have worse vision than before: patients with mild short-sight do better than those with severe problems.
Between one and 10 per cent will have to have the treatment repeated and a small number will develop an infection - though infection rates are lower than with contacts - or a complication that results in damage requiring a corneal transplant.

Claims against laser eye surgeons account for one in three of all ophthalmology cases dealt with by the Medical Defence Union.
"On average, the cost of litigation against laser eye surgeons is triple that of ophthalmic surgeons who do not carry out laser eye work," says Dr Karen Roberts, MDU clinical risk manager. "Patient dissatisfaction with vision post-operatively and corneal scarring are the most common reasons."
There is concern that some clinics play down the potential problems to attract clients. Virtually all laser eye surgery is carried out privately and mostly in clinics competing mainly on price. Charges range from £700 an eye for basic Lasik at some chains, to more than £2,000 an eye for more sophisticated techniques in hospitals."