vitreous hemorrhage

[dino816p]

I had cataract surgery 2 weeks ago and my vision was very good until 4 days ago. I had a vitreous hemorrhage and now my vision in my left eye is very poor. I can see light and dark and shapes but no detail. I went to a retina specialist and was told to consider this my normal vision from now on and that there were no tears in the retina and that there is nothing that can be done at this time. He said that I was very likely to have a detachment because the perimeter of my retina is very thin. Is there anything else that can be done to correct my vision at this point?

[dino816p]

With the vitreous hemorrhage my vision is 20/40 in my left eye. Would glasses correct this? I feel like I'm not getting enough light into my eye to see correctly and I don't see how glasses would help that. Before the hemorrhage I had 20/25 vision.

[Ray T Oyakawa, MD]

Treatment of tears can prevent retinal detachments.  There is a risk of retinal detachment with a vitrectomy. However,  there is also a risk of retinal detachment with cataract surgery.

Dr. O.

[dino816p]

Thank you for your reply. If you don't mind answering a few more questions. Is there anything that can be done to prevent retinal detachment? Would a vitretomy cause a detachment? Why wouldn't my doctor suggest it? What are the risks involved?

Thank you

[Ray T Oyakawa, MD]

A vitreous hemorrhage can be removed by a vitrectomy.

Dr. O.