Prism

Can IOLs be implanted into a patient who currently has glasses with a prism correction?  Are there IOL's that contain a prism correction?

[JodieJ]

I'm just a fairly well-informed patient, but I don't believe that any IOL could contain a prism correction (which addresses an eye alignment problem.)  But glasses with a prism correction can certainly be worn over any IOL.

[I_Can_See]

Mmm, defeats the purpose of inplants then.  So in a patient with a prism what would the normal cataract removal procedure be?

[JodieJ]

The goal of cataract surgery is to eliminate impaired vision from a thickened, cloudy lens by replacing it with an implant.  This has nothing to do with eye muscle imbalance or eye alignment problems.  If your vision is impaired due to cataract formation, then standard cataract surgery will almost certainly improve your acuity.  But it will not address a preexisting eye alignment problem, so you will still need to wear glasses with prisms to correct this.  

[I_Can_See]

Thanks Jodie, I am just lining up all my ducks at this stage.  I have worn glasses for 40 years.  I consulted two eye surgeons because I wanted to lose my glasses.  Both surgeons diagnosed early stage cataracts.  One surgeon was suggesting multifocal IOLs and the other surgeon single vision IOLs with reading glasses.  The latter got my order.  Neither surgeon mentioned anything about a prism and quite frankly, over the years, I had forgotten I had a prism.  Six weeks post operative (second eye) I am now seeing vertical double when my eyes get tired, about late afternoon.  When it came time to get my reading glasses my optometrist told me I will always need glasses because of my prism.  I now feel dupted.  However if the result is exactly the same because of the cateracts then I guess I do not have a "case".  Only thing is if I new the end result at the start I would have postponed the surgery until the cateracts started to cause problems  

[JodieJ]

I think your optometrist is correct.  If your surgeon had known about your need for prism (and he should have), he most certainly should have explained why you would need glasses post-surgery.  But at least you have it all behind you now, and you'll never have to put up with the gradual yellowing and blurring of vision from cataracts.