Understanding the Risks associated with Cataract Surgery

Cataract surgery is today a common procedure that has helped to improve the vision and lives of thousands of patients. During the procedure, the cataract surgeon will remove the cataract, or cloudy lens, that has obscured your vision and will usually implant an artificial new lens (called an "intraocular lens" or IOL).

Nearly 98 percent of patients undergo successful cataract surgery with no complications and highly positive results. As with all surgeries, however, cataract surgery does carry some risks that you will want to consider and discuss with your cataract surgeon.

Usually cataract surgery is performed under local, rather than general, anesthesia, but you should inform your cataract surgeon of any complications you have experienced with anesthesia in the past. On rare occasions during the procedure itself, the web of blood vessels in the eye that supply blood to the retina may being to bleed, a complication called choroidal hemorrhage. With modern procedures that require small incisions, such a complication is rare and can usually be contained, however in severe cases there may be permanent visual loss.

After the surgery, you may experience inflammation or swelling, called cystoid macular edema, which can be readily treated with NSAID or cortisone eye drops. Your vision may be tinged a blue color, or you may see "floaters," small spots or fragments of material that persist in the eye and float across your field of vision. In some cases, cloudiness may reappear in the lens capsule left behind after surgery, called an "after-cataract," which can usually be treated with a painless laser procedure.

Most of these conditions are mild and temporary. However a more serious infection, called endophthalmitis, may occur in about 1 out of 3,000 cases, which requires administration of antiobiotics and in some cases further surgery. In addition, there is a possibility of tears to the back of the lens during the cataract surgery or a risk that retinal detachment (occuring in perhaps one half of one percent of patients) may occur weeks, or even months after the procedure.

In rare cases glaucoma may develop, which should be managed carefully by your doctor. Many of the risks of cataract surgery are complicated by the patient's age, other health conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure, or pre-existing irregularities or abnormalities in the eye.

To ensure a positive outcome to cataract surgery, be sure to provide a complete and accurate medical history and discuss any concerns you have with your doctor.