Demographics

• Over 17 million people around the world have had some type of laser refractive surgery, including LASIK, LASEK, PRK, and wavefront Lasik.


• Over 8 million people in the United States have had eye surgery to correct poor vision


• The number of people who have eye surgery in the United States has held steadily since 2004-approximately 1.3 million procedures are done per year.


• More men receive laser refractive eye surgery than women; on average, 54 percent of patients were men and 46 percent were female.


• 56% of people who have received laser eye surgery were between the ages of 18 and 34.

Types of surgeries performed

• Around 50% of Lasik surgeries performed in the United States are custom, wavefront guided eye surgeries. Wavefront guided technology makes for a much more accurate prescription and correction.


• Of the Lasik surgeries performed in the United States, approximately 25% of them do not use a blade to make the corneal flap; instead they use an all-laser procedure.

Results of surgery

• In a recent survey of Lasik patients who had had their eye surgery at least 3 months before, 70% were "amazed" at how well they could see and were very satisfied with their results.

Knowledge of eye surgery

If you don't know very much about the different types of eye surgery, you're not alone; the following information pertains to public knowledge about eye surgery:

• 67% of people with poor vision know nothing about the Lasik procedure in general


• 73% of people surveyed had never heard of wavefront guided Lasik before


• 85% of people would like to have some type of laser surgery performed, but 65% of those have never spoken to a doctor about their options.


• 86% of people who do want Lasik or other eye surgery are waiting for a safer option before proceeding.

These statistics are helpful because they illustrate the vast number of people who have had refractive eye surgery done to help them see better and the number of people who are pleased with their surgery and its outcome.

If you are interested in getting Lasik or another type of eye surgery and are unsure of its safety or how to proceed, the following tips will help you to be more informed about the procedure:

• Get a thorough eye exam and talk to your doctor about your options and which surgery you're the best candidate for. Make sure you ask about the most recent advances in laser technology.
• Talk to people who have had eye surgery. Ask them what you can expect, if they are pleased, and if they would do it again knowing what they know now.

The decision to get eye surgery is a major one. The above statistics will help you understand more about eye surgery.