After Cataract Surgery

After the Cataract procedure
Post operative Follow-up Schedule:
You'll usually see your eye doctor a day or two after your surgery, the following week, and then again after about a month to monitor healing.
• Same day FU
a. At CCH, you will have to go to the office after you leave the hospital to get check. You don’t have to wait to go there, go straight to the office. It is a short visit.
b. At PVSC, will keep you at the centre until you get checked.
• 1wk at the centre or at the OD, you can drive yourself to this visit. Except toric IOLs as I have to make sure the IOL is staying at the preplanned axis. You will be dilated.
• 5wks at the centre, you will be dilated and you’ll need a driver.
• 6wk at the OD for the glasses.
• Discuss the BSCE vs Singles
• If you have cataracts in both eyes, your doctor usually schedules the second surgery after the first eye has healed or within a week or two. This is usually discussed at the consult visit.
Normal Experiences After surgery
Feeling
• It's normal to feel itching and mild discomfort for a couple of days after surgery. Avoid rubbing or pushing on your eye.
• After a couple of days, most of the discomfort should disappear. Often, complete healing occurs within eight weeks.
• FBS, dryness
• Blepharitis, needs lid hygiene
Visual Changes
• VA improvements
o Close eyes as much as possible for 2 hours then
o Start using your eyes normally as tolerated after 2 hours
o Dilation lasts for 24hrs
o Then you can drive.
o After cataract surgery, expect your vision to begin improving within a few days. Your vision may be blurry at first as your eye heals and adjusts.
o Colors may seem brighter after your surgery because you are looking through a new, clear lens. A cataract is usually yellow- or brown-tinted before surgery, muting the look of colors.
• Effects of the edge of the lens
o Reflections (Positive Dysphotopsia)
o Dark band on the side (Negative Dysphotopsia)
Do’s and don’t
• It is okay to:
a. Bend over and lift heavy.
b. Showering with goggles
c. Driving 24hrs
d. Reading 2hrs
• It is not okay to:
a. Rubbing the eyes or
b. getting water in the eyes
Protection
• Wear an eye protective shield or glasses the day of surgery for at least 2 hours.
• The first week
o During the day, Wear the eye protective
o When you sleep,
 Wear the protective shield kept in place with medical tape or
 Protective glasses with a strap behind you head to keep them in place
Drops
Your doctor may prescribe eyedrops or other medication to prevent infection, reduce inflammation and control eye pressure. Sometimes, these medications can be injected into the eye at the time of surgery.
Dropless
Just lubricants when needed. We injected the medicated drops in 2 components. The white patch under the lower lid is the normal external component, can last for few weeks and sometimes months.
Standard drops
• Tobradex QID for 2wks
• Acuvail BID for 5 weeks (Stings)
• lubricants when needed
Mixed Drops
• Drop 1 TIDx2wk, then after these 2 weeks, start drops2 below
• Drop 2 BIDx3wk
Glasses
We usually try to target less dependence on glasses by using special lens implants.
• If you picked the distance vision correction, you would need OTCRG +2 - +2.50
• If you picked near vision correction
o Blended vision, takes time to adjust, 2-3wk. Sometimes would need night driving glasses and low power OTCRG to fine prints.
o Symfony or Synergy, halos are normal, gets better with time.
• If you had Astigmatism
o If it was corrected with toric IOLs, like other patients above
o If it was not corrected, the vision will be blurry until you get your glasses from the optometrist at 6wk.
Lid Hygiene and Dry eyes
This is the most common side effect of the cataract procedure, almost everyone will have some degree of it.
MGD, blepharitis activates after surgery due to lack of messaging of the glands and cleaning up the lids in the shower or when washing your face in the morning.
During the first week, you can’t exert any pressure on the eye ball, but you can very gently clear the lashes from crusts without any pressure on the eyeball. Pull the lid away from the eyeball to avoid the pressure.
After the first week, you can start doing the warm compresses, still without pressure on the eyeball.
After two weeks you can put some pressure on the eyeball. But be reasonable.
Cataract surgery risks include:
• Inflammation
• Infection
• Bleeding
• Swelling
• Drooping eyelid
• Dislocation of artificial lens
• Retinal detachment
• Glaucoma
• Secondary cataract
• Loss of vision
Contact us immediately if you experience any of the following:
• Vision loss
• Pain that persists despite the use of over-the-counter pain medications
• Increased eye redness
• Eyelid swelling
• Light flashes or multiple new spots (floaters) in front of your eye