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Cataract removed during retina detachment surgery; is it safe to not have a lens
I had retina detachment surgery twice (and a 1st surgery for 3 tears - all within a 2 months period). I had an air bubble with the tears, then a gas bubble with the 1st retina detachment and now I have silicon oil for the last retina detachment (all in the same eye). My question is - they had to remove my lens because I had developed cataracts which had developed with the surgeries. They did not put in any lens to replace the cataract. They said they have to wait until they remove the silicon oil. Is this normal procedure and is it safe for my eye to not have a lens in it for a long period of time?
Yes it is safe. Up till about 1973 there were no IOLs and the eyes were left without a lens at all called aphakia. A IOL is not going to help if your retina is not put back in place. How well you see will depend much more on the retina recovery than anything else. Remember you are at high risk of RD in your fellow eye so have it checked often and avoid injury and diseases from unhealthy lifestyle (such as smoking and obesity)
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Dr Hagan, thank you so much for your answer! Fortunately, I am not a smoker and am eating healthy (not obese but can afford to lose about 15 pounds). They did just find a tear in my right eye last week and lasered it so they will keep checking on it and hopefully nothing more will happen to this fellow eye. Thank you for your advise and assurance!
Yes and best of luck to you
I do have another question for you! Because I have a lot of floaters in my fellow eye - would you ever suggest to have those floaters removed (after my surgical eye is completely healed, of course)? It scares me of the possibility of my fellow eye having retina tears or become detached like my surgical eye because of all my floaters. Thank you!
No floaters are a symptoms of vitreous changes, PVDs or RDs. They are not the cause. Moreover by age 50 half of all people with normal eyes have floaters. The operation for floater removal increase the risk of RD, also carries risk of infection, bleeding, swelling, reduced vision and often does not get all the floaters and is generally not covered by insurance.
Thank you so much! I appreciate your time and effort in answering my questions!
You are welcome Jamie. I have floaters also and they bug me at times.
Hi again - I have a question of the healing process of my silicone oil. It has been 3+ weeks and it still feels like my eye is straining and at some times feels like it is 'pulling' away. Of course, this freaks me out because that is the same feeling and sensation that I felt when my Retina was actually detaching (the 1st and 2nd time). I realize that I have had 3 surgeries in an 8 week period and so maybe this is normal (and it has only been 3 weeks since the last surgery and my poor little eye has been through the ringer) but I worry that this is not a normal feeling or thing that should be happening since my eye is filled with the silicone oil.
I would suggest as before that you use the search feature and archives to read the many posts about RD surgery and silicone oil in the eye. Pain, discomfort, strain, pulling, watering are all things that many people describe. There is no way of course to tell you the status of your retina since oil is used only in the most severe and recurrent RDs.
Thank you again!!! It is just a comfort to be able to ask questions and get answers that help me to know that all will be ok and things are as normal as can be expected in these circumstances!
Sure
Similar to you I had retinal surgery in one eye, which subsequently developed a bothersome cataract over the following nine months which was removed and replaced with an IOL. I only had a gas bubble however and never had silicon oil. My other, non-operative eye had a retinal tear which was successfully laser treated in my ophthalmologists (retinal specialist) office, discovered during my first visit there. It too has some floaters (not particularly bad) and macular pucker just like my operative eye had, as well as a baby cataract. My intent is to do nothing unless symptoms develop which impair my vision in that eye significantly, and my ophthalmologist supports that approach. I am seen by him every six months so if things stay like they are I may never need to do anything more. I seemed to be an outlier by not opting for cataract surgery in my non-operative eye along with my other eye, but I have had good success so far by using contacts for distance correction with a stellar 20/15 achieved by my optometrist in both eyes by so doing.
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Few to no competent honest surgeons are going to work up much enthusiasm about operating on a 20/15 eye
Thank you MrPresley for your comment as well as it is reassuring that I can hopefully lead a good visionary life after all this is taken care of!!
Just have patience with the retinal recovery because it can seem agonizingly slow.
Thank you! I will have the oil in my eye for 6 months and maybe longer depending how well it is doing. I need to keep putting drops and ointment in iit as it has become very dry and scatches and pulls/strains! This too shall pass!!
Never, ever, ever forget taking care of the "good" eye is the most important thing
Thank you - I had the good eye lasered twice this last month for a tear. My poor eyes have been through a lot but I am trying to be extra careful with both of them. I will continue to see the doctor on a monthly basis. Thank you again!
One item of note is that my operative eye, which had a vitrectomy/ERM peel and subsequently cataract removal surgery, has now for all intents and purposes become my good eye again. I was left eye dominant before, and now that the vision in that eye has been restored to greatness it is once again my dominant eye.
Hello Dr Hagan, It has been exactly 1 year to the day since my first out of 5 surgeries on my left eye began. Yesterday I had the lens put back in that they had taken out at the 3rd surgery (my 4th surgery consisted of going in and removing the membrane on the scar tissue as it was growing rapidly and causing damage to my vision - at this time they also removed the oil from my left eye). I have had inflammation of the Retina in my left eye (along with macular edema) and recently it was at its lowest point so they thought it was a good time to put my lens back in. The surgery yesterday was in the morning and he had me come back in the office that afternoon because of my history of inflammation. My eye pressure was 40 so he "burbed" the eye to relieve the pressure along with some eye drops. This morning as I applied my first antibiotic drop I noticed that my vision in my left eye is very distorted and blurry. I realize there is a film, that will have to be lasered later, that perhaps is not making my vision clear but the distortion is a huge worry. It's like I've got a tiny head and big body. Is this normal?
Your situation is never normal after all these surgeries and problems. You should call the surgeon's office with your questions/observations. And for those reading its "burped" means pushing in on incision to let some fluid from inside the eye out to lower IOP
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