Factors affecting Lasik eye surgery

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Typically, the cornea is avascular because it must be transparent to function normally, and its cells absorb oxygen from the tear film. Thus, low-oxygen-permeable contact lenses reduce the cornea's oxygen absorption, sometimes resulting in corneal neovascularization—the growth of blood vessels into the cornea. This causes a slight lengthening of inflammation duration and healing time and some pain during surgery, because of greater bleeding.

Although some contact lenses (notably modern RGP and soft silicone hydrogel lenses) are made of materials with greater oxygen permeability that help reduce the risk of corneal neovascularization, patients considering LASIK are warned to avoid over-wearing their contact lenses. Usually, it is recommended that they discontinue wearing contact lenses days or weeks before the LASIK eye surgery.

A 2004 Wake Forest University study established that heat and humidity affect LASIK surgery results, both during the procedure and in the two weeks before the surgery.

Source: Factors affecting Lasik eye surgery at wikipedia.org