Optical experts in Shanghai have reassured patients that laser eye surgery, or LASIK (laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis), is the safest method to treat adult myopia, following a leading Taiwanese eye doctor said he would stop LASIK procedures after witnessing complications in 10 cases, Shanghai Daily reported.
Dr. Ray Tsai said on Tuesday that in those 10 cases, visual acuity worsened suddenly long after the LASIK procedure and he would no longer perform LASIK out of medical ethics.
Tsai believes the vision loss is linked to post-surgery corneal inflammation and said these typical patients are between the ages of 40 and 50. He explained later that LASIK is the still safest myopia treatment.
But a chief eye doctor in Shanghai, Dr. Chu Renyuan, has noted that that LASIK is the only therapy allowing adults with myopia to drop glasses. "But no therapy is perfect," he said. "The key is the equipment, doctor's skill and proper screening of patients."
Officials from the Shanghai Health Bureau said patients should go to big hospitals for careful checkup and consultation before receiving surgery.