Cataract after scleral buckling

Hello,

I had scleral buckle procedure, no bubble, in my right eye 5 1/2 weeks ago. The surgery was successful and I am healing nicely. ( I now have 20/50 vision fully correctable to 20/20). I have a couple of questions. There seems to be a large concern for a cataract development after a retina detachement surgery. Is developing an early cataract inevitable for all post retina detachement patients? Are the chances of developing a premature cataract higher for one procedure than others? For my case (scleral buckle with cyro only, no bubble), what are the chances of an early cataract?

Also, 2 weeks prior to my detachment I suffered a massive PVD and vitreous collapse (maybe they are the same things?) in the eye that eventually detached. I woke up one morning and saw many small and large floaters in my periphery and a huge single floater on the top of my vision. It was not a shadow or a curtain, definitely a stringy, gel like material typical of a floater. However, it was so large and dense that it blocked about 10-15% of my vision in the upper field of vision. Does anyone else have such large floaters?

The floaters have largely remained unchanged after the buckle surgery but it seems as though there is much more "activity" (more movement) and now they have invaded the area in the middle of my vision. Does this mean anything? Also, my doc has told me that I have small amounts of vitreous that is still stuck to the retina. (I guess my vitreous did not come off clean.) He says that it looks very "sloppy". Am I at a higher risk for reoccuring detachments because of my excessive (and very active) floaters and the vitreous that are still attached to the retina?

a thousand thanks to those who respond!

[Michael J Kutryb, MD]

I don't have statistics to show you but I strongly suspect that cataracts will develop quicker if you are older, have gas injection, have a significant vitrectomy, or a lot of cryo.  In the end - every case is different.  If you are younger and had no gas injection, then perhaps you can go for quite some time before a cataract develops.  Either way, it will happen when it happens and the success for cataract surgery is very high, so I would not spend much energy worrying about it.

Regarding your floaters - that's really a question for your surgeon because he knows exactly what you have.  I suspect you may be having a second surgery in the future if your floaters and vitreous problems are as great as you say.

MJK MD