Bilateral Iritis after LASIK

[sraji16]

Hello - I have had floaters in my eyes since child hood and never thought that was an issue. I recently had LASIk surgery and was on Prednisolone for 2 weeks after the surgery. Within a couple of days of stopping the steroid drops, my eyes became red and was light sensitive. I rushed back to my LASER centre and they diagnosed me with bilateral iritis and claim that this was not triggered by LASIK. I have had no eye inflammation or infection before LASIK. Although, I am awaiting  blood work results for RA I am scared to death if something is wrong with me. What is the difference between bilateral iritis and Uveitis? How will I know which one I have? I am currently on a tapered course of Pred Forte.

[Houman Vosoghi, MD]

Any procedure can trigger iritis (which is one form of uveitis in the front part of the eye).  Sometimes this is associated with an underlying inflammatory condition for which blood testing is indicated.  Most cases resolve with a slow tapering course of steroid drops so be patient.  You just need to make sure your eye pressure gets checked regularly while on the steroid drops to make sure you have not developed high pressures (once every one to two weeks while on the drops).

HV

[sraji16]

My family Dr. gave me a clean bill of health after seeing my blood work results. Nothing but Iron deficiency. While I am continuing on steroid drops ( with 3 drops /day now), my left eye vision is getting blurrier by the day. Could that be because of steroid drops ( Pred Forte) or healing from LASIK? Do you think the iritis will not show up after I finish tapering off the drops? I am scared of going blind or having eye issues for the rest of my life. Stupid LASIK :-( !