The direct answer is no practically and yes theoretically. Practically, there are no cases reported that the Lasik patient has gone blind after the Lasik procedure is performed. Theoretically, yes, it is possible, since Lasik is a surgery procedure. when enough care is not taken, one can go blind even without Lasik surgery. So, when enough post surgery care is taken, there is no probability to go blind after the Lasik surgery.
Studies and Reports
According to the reports revealed by American Refractive Surgery Council, no actual cases indicating blindness as the result of Lasik are reported or recorded. The same council has revealed the success rate of the Lasik surgery as more than 96 percent. Having said this, it is also important to mention that infections and complications are possible that may result in degrades of vision. And the legal blindness is considered, when the vision reaches 20/200 or lesser.
FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in the US has reported that there is a possibility of Lasik resulting in loss of vision, which may not be able to be corrected through contact lenses, glasses or any additional surgeries. It alerts with the worst possible outcome of Lasik, which is not practically happened, since enough care is taken by both the medical center and the patient, because eye is the most sensitive organ of the human body.
The reports shared by the American Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery that Lasik stands as the most commonly performed and one of the most successful surgeries. While it is possible that the Lasik procedure may result, though in very rare cases, it would be loss of a very few lines of vision over vision chart and no way it results in legal blindness. Disabling vision is Lasik’s extremely rare complication and it can occur, lesser than 1%, according to Consumer Reports. Usually, there can be very small and temporary disturbances of vision, like halos, starbursts around lights or night vision problems.
How To Lower Risk Of Going Blind?
When the Lasik surgery is performed in a standard medical center that follows standard protocols to perform the surgery procedure, the probability of going blind after the surgery becomes nill. In addition, post operation care is the next factor that can decide the overall outcome of the Lasik procedure. Hence, all the guidelines and recommendations of the surgeons have to be noted and followed with no deviation and without neglecting.
What If Vision Deterioration Occurs?
In case the deterioration of vision is more, usually the cause is the infection or inappropriate procedure performed, without following standard protocols. Technically, it can be because of incorrect programming for guiding the laser or incorrect flap cut. So, the first and most important factor for the best outcome of the procedure is choosing the standard medical center.
Hence the probability of going blind is extremely rare with the Lasik surgery and the success rate with improvement of vision is directly proportional to the selection of standard medical center, choosing experienced and skilled surgeon, followed by best post-operative care.