There has been a recent (July 2003) report on night vision for LASIK (and some PRK) using the Technolas-217 laser and the Hansatome Microkeratome, which is the combination that I usually use. This is by Jean-Jacques Saragoussi MD at the French Implant and Refractive Surgery Association (SAFIR) meeting and he reported a satisfaction survey done at the Clinique de la Vision in Paris. 

This study was in 219 consecutive eyes (111 patients) operated on with LASIK and PRK over a 10 month period. The range was from -1 to -9.25 D. LASIK was done in 91.3% and PRK in 8.7%. The optical zone of the laser was at least 5mm in all patients.

81% of the patients responded to a follow-up questionnaire done at around 6 months post-op. 58% reported a better quality of daytime vision, 33% said it was unchanged and 9% said it was worse after surgery.

34% said that their postoperative night vision had improved, 39% reported no change and 26% felt it had deteriorated. However, when asked if they experienced problems with night vision, almost half (47%) said that they did experience some difficulties, 51% said they did not and 2% didn't know. Some 29.5% said they experienced more problems with night driving postoperatively, 46% reported no change and 23% said that they had less difficulty.

Of 42 patients who reported problems with night vision, 69% cited halos, 35% glare and 35% scatter. A little more than one third of these 42 patients suffered from just one complaint, 55% suffered from two and 7% all three.

Of the 90 patients who replied to the questionnaire, 79% said that they were very satisfied overall with the outcome of their surgery, 19% said that they were quite satisfied and 2% described themselves as satisfied. None of the patients described themselves as dissatisfied with the overall result and 98% said that they would recommend the procedure to others.

Dr Saragoussi said that patients with pre-operative myopia greater than -4.5 D seemed to pose a greater risk of experiencing night vision problems and he stressed the importance of keeping the ablation treatment zone larger than the diameter of the scotopic pupil size to avoid subsequent problems with night vision.

SJD note: This study seems to have been done with vision uncorrected for any residual refractive error. (the commonest reason for night vision problems is a small refractive error - see the general night vision page.