radial keratotomy and retinal detachment

[Sigene]

Went to get my eyes checked and the Dr. spent a lot of time telling me that my radial keratotomy predisposes me to retinal detachment.
I'm considerably skeptical. He mentioned my fairly sever myopia means my eyes were 'bigger', and that the retina is stretched out, leading to higher chance of detachment. This may make more sense to me, but I'm not buying into the radial keratotomy being a cause, as was clearly implied.

I've looked on the internet and have found very little to support this notion. One study found one eye in 31 that had detachment (3%.....coincidentely the likelyhood % the dr. quoted to me). This to me is a very weak connection
http://www.lasikcomplications.com/RK...eratotomy.html (search for 'detachment')

So, does anyone have any other evidence to support this statement that RK causes RD?

What about the idea that myopia is correlated with RD? Is this true too? due to the retina being stretched?

[cromulent]

Myopia is most definitely correlated with retinal detachments. A rare side effect of LASIK is RD, and depending on the mechanism used to create the RK cuts on the cornea (was a stabilizing ring used that increased eye pressure temporarily?) the risk of RD might go up after RK.

At any rate I have never heard of a huge effect of increased risk of RD. You need regular eye exams due to the elongation of the eye and stretching of the retina at any rate, so I wouldn't worry too much about a small amount of increased risk on top of that.