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Early (< 3 Months) and Late (> 3 Months) Complications of LASIK

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Complications in Corneal Laser Surgery

Abstract

This chapter focuses on early postoperative LASIK complications such as sterile inflammation (e.g. diffuse lamellar keratitis, DLK), infectious keratitis, epithelial or flap folds, epithelial ingrowth (EIG) and dry eye. By definition early postoperative complication is manifestation within 3 months after the procedure. These early postoperative complications can occur after uneventful surgery and differ significantly in their clinical impact on the postoperative outcome and are therefor introduced separately.

A number of postoperative complications can be avoided or minimized by careful intraoperative management. Focused attention should be paid to infectious keratitis which must be clearly separated from non infectious (diffuse lamellar) keratitis. Especially infectious keratitis can result in severe visual loss if not adequately addressed. The possible complications are listed in the order of their usual time line and summarized in Table 10.1.

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Correspondence to Stephan J. Linke MD, PhD , Fernando Llovet MD, PhD , Stephan J. Linke MD, PhD , Fernando Llovet MD, PhD or Toam R. Katz .

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Linke, S.J. et al. (2016). Early (< 3 Months) and Late (> 3 Months) Complications of LASIK. In: Linke, S., Katz, T. (eds) Complications in Corneal Laser Surgery. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41496-6_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41496-6_9

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