Hello Laura, Two operations will double the risk of infection, bleeding, inflammation. It will not double the risk of cataract surgery BUT ONE CATARACT OPERATION INCREASES THE RISK OF RETINAL DETACHMENT BY TEN TIMES NOT TEN PERCENT.
Your risk of retinal detachment given you degree of myopia is in the order of 1 in 1000 to 1 in 2000. After cataract surgery the risk will increase to about one in a hundred to one in five hundred.
The Veriseye implant will not increase the risk of retinal detachment that much but may make your cataract grow faster.
JohnHaganMD
Let me clarify that. I can either have a Verisyse implant now and cataract surgery when I need it later, or go ahead and remove my cataracts now. Would having two surgeries (Verisye and then cataract) increase the risk of retinal detachment (I am -8 in both eyes)? I need to weigh the pros and cons of both approaches.
Thank you for your insights. The problem with second opinions is that it leaves me confused!
Laura
Thank you for your insights. I have not made peace with wearing contacts, and wanted to have my vision surgically corrected. What are the pros and cons of using a Phakic IOL (Verisyse) versus having cataract surgery now?
Laura
1. all IOL technology will improve with time. None will ever be perfect. If you've made your peace with wearing glasses I would not recommend multifocal implants. I have literally thousands of patients in my practice that have had their cataracts for 10-15 years and still don't need surgery. You don't want to have cataract surgery until the cataracts are a moderate to big problem in your life.
2. Any IOL removal/exchange is generally more complicated and risky than the initial cataract removal/IOL insertion. I would never tell a patient that they should try monovision and if they didn't like it I would take the IOL out and exchange it.
3. Monovision: you don't see as well because you use only one eye for distance and the other for near, your depth perception is shot, you still can't see at middle distance, many to most mono-vision patients where glasses for some cases.
Have your ophthalmologist give you a trial of monovision with soft contact lens. You can get a quick appreciation of whether you like it or not.
JCH III MD