ANKARA, Turkey, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Researchers in Turkey and Spain found laser in-situ keratomileusisthe, or LASIK, surgery was safe and effective even for the highly myopic.

Researchers at Miguel Hernandez University Medical School, in Alicante, Spain, and Ankara University School of Medicine in Ankara, Turkey, evaluated 196 eyes of 118 patients 10 years after the surgery and found uncorrected vision was 77 percent of best-corrected vision before surgery. About 40 percent avoided the use of glasses.

Only two eyes -- 1 percent of those evaluated -- showed corneal bulging, a complication requiring stabilizing gas permeable contact lenses or other treatments, possibly including a corneal transplant.

"These results are extremely encouraging considering that this refractive correction implies the maximum limit of application of this technique," lead investigator Dr. Jorge Alio of Miguel Hernandez Medical School said in a statement. "The study has allowed us to demonstrate that in spite of the prejudices about the limits of LASIK technique, the results regarding predictability, efficacy and safety for high myopic patients are very good in the long term.

The study is published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology.