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Denver Personal Injury Attorney

Lasik & PRK Injuries

The explosive growth of laser vision surgery has resulted in many clinics operating at higher levels of production than is often thought by many to be safe. The heavy volume of patients and demands by the corporate offices has resulted in an increasing high number of errors during the laser vision process. Mistakes occur in both evaluation of the qualification of a patient (not everyone is a proper candidate for the surgery), during the procedure itself, and during postoperative treatment.

In order to be a proper candidate for the procedure, the ideal candidate should:

1. Be over 18 with a stable prescription for glasses or contacts for at least two years,
2. Have a thick cornea,
3. Not have vision outside currently approved procedure parameters,
4. Not have any other eye disease or condition that hinder surgical healing such at medication issues or certain autoimmune disorders,
5. Be fully informed about the risks of the procedure.

Various complications that may give rise to a legal claim include:

1. Maculopathy - stress injury caused to eye due to the mechanical stresses of the procedure;
2. Microkeratome Malfunctions - can result in damaged flaps:
3. Laser Malfunction - may be the result of mechanical or human error;
4. Infection - is an inherent risk of the procedure, but failure to monitor and treat may give rise to a claim;
5. Record Error - the wrong information is recorded in the record or transferred incorrectly resulting in an inaccurate and harmful procedure.

These events may occur during the preoperative, interoperative, or postoperative period. Particular complications which may occur during the operative procedure include:

1. Perforation and entry into the eye;
2. Thin or perforated flap;
3. Irregular flap;
4. Rippled flap;
5. Free or partial flap;
6. Mishandling of flap;
7. Laser related decentration;
8. Laser related Irregular Astigmatism;

Postoperative complications include:

1. Dislocated flaps;
2. Epithelial ingrowth:
3. Diffuse lamellar keratitis;
4. Infectious keratitis;

Further information can be provided by contacting our office and logging on to  http://www.lasikblog.net.