Cataract Surgery

Refractive Cataract Surgery

Refractive cataract surgery is a procedure that is done not to correct any problems associated with cataracts, but also correct their vision. This procedure is only done in a small number of cases, but this is slowly beginning to change. Many individuals are attempting to have regular cataract surgery combined with refractive cataract surgery to kill two birds with one stone. This procedure allows them to fix their cataracts, while also fixing their vision problems. This can be done with those who are near sighted, far sighted, and even those who have an astigmatism.

Prior to having the refractive cataract surgery, individuals should discuss the benefits and risks with their eye doctor as well as the doctor who will preform the surgery. This surgeon should have experience in the field, and also have a good reputation, or be well regarded by their peers. Though the refractive cataract surgery is a fairly easy procedure, there are always complications that may happen. The doctor can go into more depth about those complications, but let’s mention a few here.

One complication associated with refractive cataract surgery are light flares. This often happens with those patients that have a problem with their pupils, or those who have naturally large or dilated pupils. The individual may begin experiencing light flares, or bright lights that suddenly appear when their eyes are closed. This often happens at night, and can be a minor inconvenience, or a more serious problem. This can sometimes happen with those who had refractive cataract surgery.

The largest problem associated with refractive cataract surgery is that the surgeon may not do the procedure properly and the vision may only be slightly better, instead of completely corrected. In this situation, the individual will need to have a second surgery such as LASIK or another similar procedure. There are also cases where the patient will need to use glasses or contact lenses following the refractive cataract surgery. If the patient still has problems seeing properly following the operation, they will need to make an appointment with their regular eye doctor. The eye doctor can safely prescribe glasses or contact lenses to compensate for their vision. In a few cases the patient needs to use bifocals for proper vision.

There are also a few more serious complications that can arise form refractive cataract surgery. Among those are bleeding, excessive puss, and even the detachment of the retina. These conditions only happen in a very small amount of cases, but there are obviously precautions that individuals need to be aware of. At the first sign of any problems following the refractive cataract surgery, they should seek medical attention, and not wait on the off chance that things might get better.