A clinical study on complications from femtosecond laser flap creation for LASIK

Objective To investigate the causes and the treatments of the complications from femtosecond laser flap creation for LASIK.Methods This clinical study of intraoperative and postoperative complications involved 2352 eyes of 1187 myopic and astigmatic patients who underwent FEMTO LDV femtosecond laser flap creation for LASIK between December 2009 and October 2013.Results Three months postoperatively,94.64％ of UCVA reached 1.0 or above and 92.81％ of spherical equivalent refractions were ±0.5 D.Thirty-eight eyes of 35 patients developed complications,among them,11 eyes had decentered or short flaps (0.47％),2 eyes had button holes (0.08％),1 eye had a loose flap (0.04％),3 eyes had flaps with an incomplete margin (0.13％),3 eyes had flaps with an irregular margin (0.13％),2 eyes had an incomplete interlayer keratectomy (0.08％),2 eyes had major epithelial sloughing (0.08％),3 eyes had a vertical gas breakthrough (0.13％),4 eyes had an opaque bubble layer (0.17％),1 eye had a postoperative macular hemorrhage (0.04％),2 eyes had viral keratitis (0.08％),and 4 eyes had subepithelial haze (0.17％).All patients had satisfactory clinical results with proper intraoperative and/or postoperative treatment.Conclusion Although FEMTO LDV femtosecond laser flap creation for LASIK is relatively safe,efficacious and predictable,the prevention of complications is still important. Key words: Femtosecond laser;  Cornea;  Keratomileusis,laser in situ ;  Complication