Retinal Detachment After Math

One of my friends had a retinal detachment in her right eye. She had surgery done to repair the tear. As a side effect of surgery, she had cateracts. She had surgery and an implant was inserted into her eye. It has been over 5 weeks and she still has blurry vision. Her doctor says that a small laser surgery could possibly correct the problem but he is not making any guarantees. How serious is her condition? Would laser surgery correct her blurred vision? Is it possible she will never regain her vision? What can she do?

[Sandy Feldman, MD, MS]

Dear dw1031,

It is difficult to assess how much vision your friend will have as it depends upon the damage from the retinal detachment.  With regards to the cataract, it sounds as if your friend has some cloudiness of the capsule in back of the implant which can easily be opened with a laser.  No doctor can ever guarantee an outcome for a particular patient.  I recommend that she speak further with her eyeMD’s to determine the status of her retina.

Dr. Feldman

Sandy T. Feldman, M.D., M.S.
ClearView Eye and Laser Medical Center
San Diego, California