Are radial keratotomy and laser surgeries safe?
” (Dr. Walter Stark of Johns Hopkins says that ads touting radial keratotomy as “safe and effective” are less than frank. About 1 to 3 percent of people have significant side effects. “Every complication listed in an informed consent form”-including the remote risk of going blind” is something that has actually happened.” Also, “Progressive hyperopia (farsighted vision, after the surgery) will be the thing that condemns radial keratotomy.” Sure enough, a recent magazine states that about 40% of people who had eye surgery to correct nearsightedness a decade ago are now becoming prematurely farsighted. Seeing starbursts around lights is another risk (Since the cornea is cut 90% of its thickness, R-K patients would want to be careful never to have a blow to the head after the surgery. (One magazine says infections from the incisions are perhaps the greatest threat; an infection can permanently scar the cornea or, worse, penetrate and destroy the eyeball. 10% of R-K patients have fluctuati
