title: Reasons for not performing LASIK in refractive surgery candidates.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyze the reasons for which LASIK was rejected in eyes of patients who requested surgical correction of their refractive errors.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective study was performed in which data pertaining to refractive and ocular status of 338 patients who presented for refractive surgery at our LASIK facility between November 2002 and December 2003 were reviewed. The reasons for not performing LASIK in cases that were rejected were also noted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 338 patients who requested refractive surgery, 223 (66%) underwent LASIK; surgery was not performed in 115 (34%) patients. The most common reason for rejecting LASIK was suboptimal central corneal thickness (55.1%). High myopia > -12.00 diopters (18.4%), keratoconus (9.6%), and hyperopia (5.9%) were other significant reasons.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Suboptimal corneal thickness combined with a high amount of refractive error was found to be the leading cause of rejection of patients for LASIK in India.
authors.affiliation: Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Namrata
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Arun
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Singhvi
authors.forename: Rajesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sinha
authors.forename: Rasik B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Vajpayee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003315:Cornea / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020731:Keratomileusis, Laser In Situ; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D054140:Refractive Surgical Procedures; D016079:Refusal to Treat / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies