Cataract surgery is a minor surgery in which the blocked lens is replaced by an intraocular lens. LASIK and cataract surgery do not inhibit each other, indicating that cataract surgery after LASIK can be performed safely. Most people who have undergone laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis (LASIK surgery) or other types of refractive surgery to reshape the cornea to correct vision can perform successful cataract surgery. However, there is an important caveat.
To ensure the most predictable visual outcome after cataract surgery, you should provide your cataract surgeon with specific information about your eyes and vision before and after LASIK surgery. Basically, LASIK surgery treats the cornea and cataract surgery treats the lens of the eye. Treating one does not inhibit treatment of the other. Which, of course, not only means that you can have cataract surgery after LASIK surgery, but also that you can have LASIK after cataract surgery.
However, this last scenario is becoming an increasingly unlikely scenario given the advancement of IOL technology. Premium intraocular lenses can be fully customized to correct any refractive errors and potentially eliminate the need for a procedure such as LASIK after cataract surgery. Patients with signs of cataracts before LASIK should not undergo LASIK because vision can be corrected with the intraocular lens used for cataract surgery. Ironically, after LASIK, the altered corneal surface causes an inaccurate measurement of the strength of the intraocular lens for cataract surgery.
This means that patients who undergo LASIK surgery and who subsequently develop cataracts may return to wearing glasses after cataract surgery, or worse, be subject to the risks inherent in multiple surgeries. For people who haven't undergone LASIK or other types of refractive corneal surgery, vision correction through cataract surgery is usually simple and the outcome is fairly predictable. Effect of previous refractive surgery on the time of cataract surgery Nilufer Yesilirmak, MD, Priyanka Chhadva, BS, Daniel Waren, MSPH, Kendall E. It's especially important to inform patients who underwent LASIK to remove their glasses that their refractive outcome after cataract surgery may be difficult.
I underwent LASIK eye surgery (a procedure that corrects refractive errors to reduce dependence on glasses) 12 years ago, at age 56, and now I have to have my cataracts removed and a lens implanted in both eyes. While LASIK surgeons don't usually provide patients with a K card, professional organizations of LASIK surgeons highlight its importance. Patients with a history of LASIK assisted by microkeratomas underwent cataract surgery a decade earlier than patients with similar demographic and ocular characteristics. A study reveals that the average age of patients with RK, PRK and LASIK who undergo cataract surgery is 5 years younger than normal.
I think that LASIK surgery or follow-up eye drops caused me to develop aggressive and early cataracts. In addition, virtually no LASIK provider gives patients the card because doing so would alert them to the long-term consequences of LASIK, which were not revealed before surgery. In addition to taking eye measurements, the surgeon also needs an accurate record of their prescription before and after LASIK surgery, as well as an accurate measurement of the curvature of the cornea before LASIK. I've read other cases where cataracts developed rapidly after LASIK surgery, although the medical profession doesn't consider that LASIK caused them.
On its website, the International Society for Refractive Surgery (ISRS) tells patients that it is crucial to keep a record of pre-operative and post-operative information that may be needed for future eye surgeries, such as cataract surgery. Therefore, it is up to the FDA to include this information in a public health notice about LASIK eye surgery.
