Who is not suitable for laser eye surgery?

To have laser eye surgery, we need to make sure you are suitable

We need to make sure that they have a stable prescription, a healthy eye and they have a cornea that is the correct shape and strength

When we are assessing someone for laser eye surgery, we need to make sure that they have a stable prescription, a healthy eye and they have a cornea that is the correct shape and strength to withstand the effects of surgery.

So, the types of conditions that stop people from having laser eye surgery are divided up into eye conditions where people have either severe dry eye, or any other abnormality of the shape of the cornea such as keratoconus.

Typically, we also avoid doing laser eye surgery on patients who are on certain systemic medicines, that is tablets of injections which could have a medicine that could be deposited in the cornea or which could prevent the healing of the cornea. The last group of reasons that we have for not wanting to do laser eye surgery on patients is systemic conditions, so these are bodily diseases such as diabetes or conditions where the collagen in the body is abnormal, such as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or Marfan syndrome.

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About the author

Mr Alex J. Shortt | Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon

MB BCh MSc PhD FRCOphth PGDipCatRef

I’m Alex Shortt, a highly trained academic researcher and Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon based in London’s famous Harley Street medical district. I trained and worked as a consultant for 14 years at London’s Moorfields Eye Hospital. I specialise in advanced technologies for correcting vision, including cataract surgery, implantable contact lenses and laser vision correction.