Purpose: To evaluate the surgical outcome in terms of safety, efficacy, predictability, and retreatment rate of LASIK surgery in patients with controlled systemic diseases in comparison with healthy individuals.
Methods: The retrospective study included data from 1936 eyes of 976 patients with stable systemic diseases who underwent LASIK surgery between January 2016 and June 2019. The safety, efficacy, predictability of the surgery, and retreatment rate were evaluated in comparison with a control group comprising 1951 patients. The study was approved by the local ethics committee and adhered to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Statistical analysis was performed using R team and the level of statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.
Results: All treatment groups demonstrated high safety and efficacy indices after LASIK surgery. Furthermore, the study arms demonstrated comparable predictability and retreatment rates to the control group in nearly all cases. Retreatment rates were significantly higher in the rheumatoid arthritis group (p = 0.03), while safety indices were significantly lower in the hay fever group compared to the control group (p = 0.004). No intra- or postoperative sight-threatening complications were documented.
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that selected patients with stable systemic conditions can safely undergo LASIK surgery and achieve comparable outcomes to healthy individuals. Further research is needed to better understand the treatment outcomes in this challenging patient population.
Keywords: Contraindication; Laser in situ keratomileusis; Refractive outcome; Refractive surgery; Systemic disease.
© 2024. The Author(s).