Cataract surgery is very safe, and serious complications are uncommon. Mild redness, light sensitivity, and vision that fluctuates from day to day are all normal during early healing. Some symptoms are not expected, though, and mean you should contact your surgeon the same day:
- Sudden or worsening pain
- A significant decrease in vision
- New floaters or flashes of light
- A shadow or curtain across part of your vision
Rarely, an infection called endophthalmitis can develop inside the eye after any intraocular surgery. It causes severe pain, rapidly worsening vision, marked redness, discharge, and eyelid swelling. If this happens, contact us right away. You can also go to the nearest emergency room, and tell them you recently had eye surgery. Early antibiotic treatment is critical to protecting your vision.
Other uncommon complications, such as retinal detachment, swelling of the retina or cornea, or your vision turning out different from the planned target (a “refractive surprise”), may need added treatment or monitoring. Months or even years later, the capsule holding your lens can slowly cloud. This is called posterior capsule opacification. A quick, painless YAG laser treatment corrects it, usually with rapid improvement in vision.
