Dry Eye Syndrome After Laser Vision Correction: Causes, Risks, and Best Treatments
💡 Dry eye syndrome (DES) is one of the most common complications after refractive surgery, including LASIK, SMILE, and PRK. It can significantly affect patient comfort and vision quality, causing discomfort, blurred vision, and eye irritation.
A recent study analyzes the main causes, risk groups and effective methods of treating dry eye syndrome, which can reduce the negative consequences of laser vision correction.
🔹 Key findings of the study
✅ Up to 75% patients experience dry eye after LASIK, with 8–48% experiencing symptoms for up to 6 months.
✅ SMILE and PRK methods cause less dryness and promote faster corneal recovery than LASIK.
✅ The main cause of dry eye syndrome is damage to the nerve fibers of the cornea, which reduces the sensitivity of the eye and the production of tear fluid.
✅ Risk factors: • Women – hormonal factors make them more prone to dry eyes. • People with high myopia – the higher the degree of myopia, the greater the volume of laser exposure to the cornea. • Contact lens users – prolonged wear of lenses before surgery can negatively affect the tear film. • Patients with existing problems with the tear film.
🔹 Why does dry eye develop after surgery?
👁 Corneal nerve dysfunction – during laser correction, the nerve fibers responsible for regulating lacrimation are damaged. After surgery, they are restored, but this takes time.
💧 Changes in the structure of the tear film – a decrease in the quality of tears leads to rapid evaporation of moisture, which makes the surface of the eye less protected.
⚡️ Inflammatory reaction – surgery can cause local inflammation, which further worsens dry eyes.
📉 Slow blinking process – after surgery, some patients subconsciously blink less often, which worsens eye hydration.
🔹 Which vision correction method is the least traumatic?
🔹 LASIK is the most common procedure, but it causes the most damage to nerve fibers, as it requires the creation of a corneal flap.
🔹 SMILE is a more gentle technology, with a lesser degree of damage to nerve endings and faster regeneration.
🔹 PRK is the most gentle method in terms of the risk of dryness, since it does not require the creation of a flap, but has a longer healing period.
🔹 How to treat dry eye syndrome after surgery?
💧 Hydrogel and hyaluronic drops – moisturize the surface of the eye and reduce irritation.
🩸 Autologous serum – helps restore the tear film and accelerates corneal healing.
🔬 Mucin secretagogues – stimulate the production of natural tears and improve the stability of the tear film.
💊 Anti-inflammatory drugs (cycloporin, corticosteroids) – reduce inflammation and accelerate recovery.
🔲 Occlusion of the lacrimal points – used to reduce the evaporation of tear fluid and improve eye hydration.
🔹 What does this mean for doctors and patients?
👀 Preoperative diagnostics is an important stage that allows us to identify patients with increased risk and select the optimal correction method.
💊 Individual approach – correctly selected medications and rehabilitation methods will help you cope with dry eyes faster.
🔬 Future research focuses on developing new methods for regenerating corneal nerve fibers, which could significantly reduce the risk of dry eye after laser vision correction.
