Efficacy and safety of LASIK in 10,052 eyes of 5081 myopic Chinese patients

PURPOSE: To analyze the outcomes and incidence of postoperative complications in a large series of patients undergoing LASIK for myopia. METHODS: All 5081 patients 10.052 eyes) diagnosed with myopia at The Third Hospital of Handan, China. from September 2003 through March 2005 were studied. All study eyes underwent LASIK with 1-month follow-up. Spherical equivalent refractor, best spctacle-corrected vsual acuity (BSCVA), and uncorrected viual acuity (UCVA) were measured before and after surgery and intra-and postoperative complications were recorded. RESULTS: Uncorrected visual acuity at 1-month follow-up to 9555 (95.1%) eyes reached or exceeded the preoperative BSCVA. Hemorrhage of corneal limbus during surgery occurred in 1060 (10.5%) eyes, Sands of Sahara syndrome occurred in232 (2.3%) eyes, interface infection responsive to treatment occurred in 4 (0.04%) eyes, and epithelial ingrowth occurred in 1 (0.01%) eye. CONCLUSIONS: LASIK is a safe and effective method for the treatment of myopia.