Safety Check on Laser Eye Ops

A full review of laser eye surgery, used to correct short and long sight, has been ordered today by a Government advisory agency because of concerns over its long-term safety. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) has also ruled that the contentious treatment, which has been used privately by tens of thousands of people who do not want to wear glasses, should not be used routinely in the NHS.

The most common method, Lasik, is effective for people with mild to moderate short or long sight, Nice said, but it raised concerns about its use to adjust the shape of the cornea in patients with more severe problems.

Two other, similar, methods will also be considered in the review which will take place next year. Nice said that Lasik should be used in the NHS only in special cases when, for example, an arthritic patient was unable to handle glasses or contact lenses. Then the patient must be given full details of possible side effects and carefully monitored by the surgeon in the long term.

Nice stresses that as both glasses and contact lenses are effective treatments, any form of surgery "must have excellent safety to be suitable for use". Prof Bruce Campbell, the chairman of Nice's interventional procedures advisory committee, said Lasik offered improvement to people who were moderately short or long-sighted. "This is a problem that can easily be corrected by spectacles or contact lenses, so any risk of damage to the eye by Lasik is a real concern. Although many people have had Lasik treatment there is very little information about how many suffer complications or damage as a result." Prof Campbell added: "We know that vision gets worse in a few people after Lasik, and eye specialists are also concerned about possible long-term side effects."

In September, Boots, the high street chemist, decided to close its nine laser treatment centers. Research by Nice suggests that for people who need small adjustments the success rates, measured as a return to normal vision, were 63 to 79 per cent, but in those with worse sight they were 26 to 36 per cent.

Problems after surgery, which some studies have put at about five per cent, include glare and halos around lights at night. There have been more severe side effects including problems with the cornea and loss of the eye. But many cases have arisen from patients being disappointed with the results.

Legal action against laser eye surgeons rose by 166 per cent in six years and account for a third of all ophthalmology claims handled by the Medical Defence Union.

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~ News.telegraph, By Celia Hall, December 15, 2004