Marguerite McDonald, MD: "With LASIK, roughly half of my patients had dry eye complaints after surgery - and in about half of these, the symptoms were severe." RefractiveEyecare.com December 2005
2025 study reported up to 75% of post-LASIK patients complained of on-going, chronic dry eye symptoms for at least 48 months. Read about it here.
Dry eye is the most common complication of LASIK. Virtually all patients experience dry eyes after LASIK. Six months after LASIK approximately 20% of patients in FDA-required clinical trials continue to report dry eyes. Other studies demonstrate that 30% to 50% of LASIK patients experience chronic dry eyes persisting beyond one year after surgery. The FDA warns that patients may develop "severe dry eye syndrome" which "may be permanent". Source When LASIK surgeons quote complication rates of 1% or less, they completely disregard this potentially debilitating complication.
"Dry eye was defined as the simultaneous presence of symptoms and at least one sign. A Schirmer test score <5 mm, tear film breakup time <10 seconds, rose bengal staining >3, and fluorescein staining >1 were considered indicative of signs." Source: News in brief. EyeWorld. January 2019. Pg 72.
Patients who suffer chronic dry eyes after LASIK should file a MedWatch report with the FDA online. Alternatively, you may call FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 to report by telephone, download the paper form and either fax it to 1-800-FDA-0178 or mail it to the address shown at the bottom of page 3, or download the MedWatcher Mobile App for reporting LASIK problems to the FDA using a smart phone or tablet.
If you suffer from dry eyes or other complications after laser eye surgery, you are invited to join the discussion on Facebook
