Reasons for not performing LASIK in refractive surgery candidates.

PURPOSE: To analyze the reasons for which LASIK was rejected in eyes of patients who requested surgical correction of their refractive errors.

METHODS

A retrospective study was performed in which data pertaining to refractive and ocular status of 338 patients who presented for refractive surgery at our LASIK facility between November 2002 and December 2003 were reviewed. The reasons for not performing LASIK in cases that were rejected were also noted.

RESULTS

Among the 338 patients who requested refractive surgery, 223 (66%) underwent LASIK; surgery was not performed in 115 (34%) patients. The most common reason for rejecting LASIK was suboptimal central corneal thickness (55.1%). High myopia > -12.00 diopters (18.4%), keratoconus (9.6%), and hyperopia (5.9%) were other significant reasons.

CONCLUSIONS

Suboptimal corneal thickness combined with a high amount of refractive error was found to be the leading cause of rejection of patients for LASIK in India.