Cataract Surgery after effects

[sandy93459]

First of all, let me say a thanks to medhelp forum. It could clarify many of my doubts. I had asked something about Cataract surgery last month. Well.. the answers could clear me. And I have a doubt remaining. Will the cataract surgery causes any after effects?

[coranation]

I cataracts had become troublesome. I could barely drive at night due to halos. During the day I had extreme problems with illusions, first diagnosed as vertigo. judging distances was crazy and it seemed like the road was swerving while I drove.
in feb 2016 I had laser assisted cat surgery in the right eye. it took them maybe 5 x to get me positioned right in the machine. that was stressful. the first month everything seemed fine. I had the left eye done in April without the laser, just general with the surgeon doing the cuts. The left eye was much less traumatic. since the surgeries I have had extreme inflammation in the rt eye (the laser eye). the drops to treat this causes the eye pressure to increase as high as 39! the drops to reduce the pressure increase the inflammation. it's absolutely insane. I'm using drops in both eyes as they heal. the rt eye is much more problematic than the lt. Now I have haziness, floaters, constant dull ache in both eyes and blurriness. the Lotemax (4xdaily) is 46.00 a month (190.00 w/o my insurance). I also take simbrinza (x2) and combigan (x2). there is also constant dry eye so I take moisture/lubricating drops.
Please research doctors and get as many opinions that make you feel safe before having this surgery done. I'm sure there are people who have these procedures and they have no problems. I was told by several doctors and people who had the surgery that they had no problems or minimal problems that were immediately addressed.
it wasn't until after I started having problems that all these "truth tellers" started coming out of the woodwork. Good luck!

[SoftwareDeveloper]

re: "I'm sure there are people who have these procedures and they have no problems"

That sounds skeptical that there are many of them. The reality is that the evidence indicates  most have good results, as a doctor posted early on this page.  There are vast numbers of cataract surgeries done each year, an estimate from last year:

https://www.reviewofophthalmology.com/article/thoughts-on--cataract-surgery-2015
"This year, 3.6 million cataract procedures will be performed in the United States and more than 20 million will be performed worldwide, "

The doctor above quoted a 98% success rate. The issue is that with vast numbers of surgeries, even a small number of problems can lead to many posts about problems. Even if the surgery were even safer,  so safe that   only 1 out of 1000 patients had a problem,  if so  that would still leave 3,600 US patients and 20,000 patients worldwide with problems each year and could lead to many posts about problems. Online forums are skewed towards those who have problems since most who have good results never post, so the safety of a very common procedure shouldn't be judged based on the number of posts. That said, the posts about problems should be a reminder for people to merely take the fact that it is a surgery seriously given there is a chance things can go wrong, *someone* will wind up being a statistic in any procedure that isn't 100% safe. It does make sense to be a good skeptical consumer and find the best treatment possible.

Also, of course there isn't currently any alternative to cataract surgery unfortunately, and without it your vision would continue to get worse until you were legally blind.  Although most people in developed countries get cataract surgery, cataracts are the leading cause of blindness in the world, about half the cases of blindness, somewhere around 20 million people blind from cataracts worldwide. So even if there are problems that arise after cataract surgery, those should be kept in perspective that usually the alternative of not having surgery would have been worse in the long run.

[JohnHaganMD]

First of all anyone that thinks any surgery is 100% safe has not done their research or is seriously into denial. Think about driving a car. Is it 100% safe? Of course not over 45,000 people are killed in the USA alone every year and a much larger number injured severely. But we still drive because we have to and the risks (especially when driving prudently and sober) are relatively small.  People that have had cataract/IOL surgery don't prowl the internet making desperate posts about their success. This website attracts mostly people that have had surgery that are unhappy with the result. In the last 6 months of my practice I don't have a single patient that is unhappy or that has had a major complication. Most of the problems that are now discussed here are not complications but IOL choices and reducing glasses dependence.

[Ray T Oyakawa, MD]

I am not sure what you mean by after effects.  There are approximately 3 million cataract surgery done per year in the U.S.  Success is about 98%  Almost all complications can be treated.  You should discuss your concerns with your surgeon.

Dr. O.

[Lucille12]

As far as I know, it will not cause any side effects. But I have heard many patients discussing about something like kidney failure after cataract surgery! I will never agree it. It could not harm any part of your body part. During a cataract surgery, it is just the cloudy lens that is replaced or removed. And one important thing is that you should follow what your surgeon says. That is, there are certain things to do after surgery. Like, few weeks after the surgery, you will need to take medication in the form of eyedrops inorder to aid healing or prevent infection. So obey what your physician says. Of all the things, the most important thing is that, make sure you hire some experts for performing the surgery.
'Toronto Eye Surgery Centre' , Ontario is the one which I prefer.