Is SMILE Pro safe?
Refractive surgery including SMILE has an established safety record and serious complications are uncommon, but no refractive procedure is risk-free. Reported risks include dry eye, night vision symptoms, under- or over-correction, residual prescription, inflammation and, rarely, infection.
Quick answer
Refractive surgery including SMILE has an established safety record and serious complications are uncommon, but no refractive procedure is risk-free. Reported risks include dry eye, night vision symptoms, under- or over-correction, residual prescription, inflammation and, rarely, infection.
A general answer about SMILE Pro, not advice about your own eyes. Only an ophthalmologist who has examined you can answer it for your case.
- Topic
- Safety, risks & side effects
- Answer length
- Quick answer plus detail
- Sourced
- Yes
In more detail
Safety for you specifically is a different question from safety in general. It depends on your corneal thickness and shape, your tear film, your prescription, your general health and the experience of the surgeon operating on you.
We do not quote complication rates. Rates differ between studies, populations and surgeons, and a number taken from someone else’s population would not tell you anything reliable about your own risk.
Related guides
Subjects this question touches
The pages that answer the subject behind the question, rather than the question itself.
- Procedure SMILE Pro
- Comparison SMILE Pro vs LASIK
- Place SMILE in Dubai
- Procedure SMILE
- Comparison LASIK vs SMILE
It describes what is generally true. Whether it applies to your eyes depends on measurements taken during an examination, and two people asking the same question can receive different answers. Read the answer as a starting point for the conversation, not as its conclusion.
People also ask
The closest subjects to this question, from both question banks.
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- Does SMILE Pro permanently correct vision, or can it change? Safety, risks & side effects
- How good are SMILE Pro results? Safety, risks & side effects
More SMILE Pro questions
Sources & further reading
We prefer primary sources. Where a claim comes from a manufacturer, a single study or a regulator, it is labelled as such below.
- Small Incision Lenticule Extraction (SMILE)
A continuously updated clinical reference chapter covering SMILE indications, technique, outcomes and complications, written for clinicians.
Used for How the lenticule is created and removed; Indications and contraindications; Complication categories; Corneal biomechanics compared with flap-based surgery.
Link checked 22 September 2026