[Infectious keratitis after LASIK--update and survey of the literature]

LASIK has become the preferred surgical procedure for the correction of refractive errors. Microbial keratitis is a rare but severe complication. The incidence of post-LASIK keratitis, (uni- and bilateral) is difficult to estimate. The risk of bilateral infection could until now only be approximated by calculating it from the risk of unilateral infection. Due to the fortunately low incidence of post-LASIK keratitis, large-scale studies are necessary to obtain valid statistical data. The American Society of Cataract and Refractive surgery (ASCRS) developed a post-LASIK infectious keratitis survey in 2001. 116 post-LASIK infections were reported by the members of the society. The calculated incidence was 0.035 % or 1 infection in every 2919 procedures. Llovet et al. found 9 patients (18 eyes) with bilateral post-LASIK keratitis out of 204 586 procedures (incidence 0.0084 %). Gram-positive bacteria and atypical mycobacteria are the most common causes for microbial post-LASIK keratitis. There is an increasing literature of post-LASIK case reports caused by rare or atypical species. Severe cases of keratitis are more often correlated with a prolonged onset of infection and caused by atypical species. An overview of the current literature and our own data regarding post-LASIK keratitis (uni-, and bilateral) are presented.