Cataracts surgery..side effects of detached/torn retina

I had cataract surgery in November, 2008. I started seeing shadows crossing occasionally and floaters shortly after the surgery.  The surgeon told me that my mind would eventually ignore the floaters and for the most part it did.  However, the floaters never went away.  I told the surgeon that the floaters were still there at my appointment in Feb. 2009.  The summer of 2009 demanded a lot of driving on my part and the floaters appeared to be happening more often.  Late August, 2009, I had a six month follow up appointment.  I told the surgeon that the floaters were increasing.  He asked if I was seeing any flashes of light and I said, NO.  The assistant asked if I was sure I had not seen flashes of light.  I repeated the answer...NO.  This was at 9:00 AM.  My cataract surgeon made a 1:30 PM appointment with a retina specialist.  The retina specialist made an appointment for me with a retina surgeon at 5:30 PM.  At 10:00 PM that evening, I was in surgery for a torn and detached retina.

Were the floaters, I was seeing all along the indication that my eye, which had cataract surgery, was showing signs of the retina becoming detached?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Not likely. By age 50 half of us have floaters and by age 70 its three out of four. Moreover after surgery many people see floaters immediately because of their better vision. Theres were in the eye before surgery but the reduced vision of the cataract "hid" them.

Some RDs are assymptomatic and are slilent. Most cause flashes of light, loss of side vision or a dramatic increase of floaters which often are very tiny and "soot" like

JCH MD