For a few days after your cataract surgery you might experience a slight aching or tenderness of the eye. Only about 5 percent of patients are uncomfortable enough to take an over-the-counter pain reliever. Also normal and to be expected are itching, scratchiness, watering or dryness, and sensitivity to light.
As mentioned, you'll notice fluctuations in your vision for a few weeks or even longer, depending on the lens implanted and your own healing process. These changes should not be severe enough to interfere with your day-to-day activities.
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| Removal Of Cataract |
Potential Complications During Surgery
In the clear-corneal phacoemulsification procedure, the incision is minuscule and no needles are used, making complications during surgery relatively rare. Complications such as rupture of the capsule, perforation of the eye, bleeding from the choroid, and damage to a nerve were much more common in past years, when cataract surgery was more invasive.
Retained Cataract Fragments
Very rarely, fragments of the cataract fall into the vitreous cavity, the space between the lens and the retina, and may have to be removed surgically to prevent inflammation.
Potential Complications After Surgery
Complications from cataract surgery occur in only a tiny percentage of patients. The risks are almost nil in the hands of an excellent surgeon. When rare complications do occur, however, a few can be serious and might require immediate medical attention.
Be sure to ask your doctor what you should do - both during and after office hours - if you have symptoms of potentially serious complications.
Infection
Fewer than one-tenth of 1 percent (0.1%) of cataract-surgery patients get endophthalmitis, a bacterial (or occasionally fungal) infection of the inner eye. Symptoms can include pain, loss of vision, and excessive redness. If not treated immediately, the condition might damage the vision. The usual treatment is injection of antibiotics into the eye. Rarely, vitrectomy - removal of the vitreous - is necessary to control the infection.
Retinal Detachment
In about one-half of 1 percent (0.5%) of patients, vitreous fluid seeps through a tear in the retina after cataract surgery, separating the retina from the back of the eye. Extremely nearsighted patients are at greater-than-normal risk for retinal detachment.
Symptoms include a shower of new floaters, much like a swarm of bees, in the vision, or extensive flashes of light, akin to fireworks. The most distinctive symptom is complete or partial loss of vision in the affected eye. Patients report feeling as if a curtain is moving across their field of vision.
Like infection, retinal detachment is a medical emergency. If you have symptoms of either, you should seek treatment immediately, day or night.
Inflammation
Slight inflammation within the eye is normal for a day or two after surgery. Very unusual is prolonged inflammation of eye membranes (uveitis) or the macula (cystoid macular edema, caused by accumulation of fluid in the retina). These can usually be managed using anti-inflammatory eye drops. Corneal edema, an inflammation of the cornea, may in extreme cases require a cornea transplant. Report any eye pain, tenderness, or swelling in your ophthalmologist immediately.
Lens Shifting
Rarely, the implanted lens shifts or rotates within the eye. It can be replaced surgically, although wearing thin eyeglasses usually solves the problem.
Incorrect Prescription
A capable, experienced eye surgeon will carefully formulate the prescription for your lens using measurements of the cornea and the length of the eye. This formulation is more difficult if you are extremely farsighted or nearsighted or if you've had LASIK or another type of refractive surgery - all of which underscores the importance of finding the best ophthalmologist available, ideally one who specializes in cataract surgery. If it turns out that the lens is too strong or too weak, the solution is to perform additional surgery to improve the focusing or rarely to replace it surgically. To find out more, you can check out Removal Of Cataract.