Humidity Affects LASIK Results

North Carolina's Wake Forest University said Wednesday its research suggests humidity and temperature levels can affect LASIK surgery results.

Researchers at the school's Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem said those changes can force more people to have follow-up procedures.

"This is the first study to show that environmental factors can affect LASIK outcomes," said ophthalmology professor Keith Walter. "For best results, physicians should take these factors into account when calibrating laser equipment."

The results are reported in the latest issue of the Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

Walter found a 10 percent increase in treatment room humidity meant an additional nine of 100 patients needed an enhancement procedure.

Results also were influenced by outdoor temperatures and humidity during the weeks before surgery, with more
enhancement surgeries required during humid summer months.

LASIK -- Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis -- is a procedure that changes the shape of one's cornea by an ultraviolet laser.