I had laser surgery on my right eye about three years ago to correct some pretty wretched vision in it (I was at about 20/400 and getting progressively worse). At the time, I was more interested in not having to wear glasses or contacts anymore, and, being the ripe old age of 25 when I went in, I paid no concern to any potential long-term effects or risks. Any medical literature I read always seems to only include potential drawbacks from shortly after the procedure. I realize that this is, as medical procedures go, relatively new (compared to childbirth or dialysis or an appendectomy, for example), and that it is conceivable that many potential risks are unknown, but are there any potential long-term effects that exist?
Well that’s part of the problem with LASIK and PRK, they don’t know the long term effects. Like you said, these procedures, (LASIK in particular) are pretty new. Most ophthalmologists worry about what the long-term effects LASIK will have on cataract and other age-related eye diseases; things we are all bound to get when we get very old. Kind of scary really.
On the brighter side, from the point of view of human physiology, these surgeries just create very tiny burns or wounds on the cornea. The body heals these little scratches like it would any other. Laser surgery relies on complicated and exacting measurements and very precise cutting, and there is a tremendous art behind accomplishing this - but why should your body care about the intent and planning that went into making the wounds? They’re still just little wounds. It’s not like inventing some new pharmaceutical chemistry, putting substances that were invented just last year into your system.
Though, this is just thinking out loud…