As with every surgical procedure, complications are possible, yet in cataract surgery they are very uncommon, e.g.:

Deteriorated vision – especially in risk patients that have other ocular conditions or after eye injury. The risk is identified and the patient warned by the ophthalmologist in the first examination;

Owing to complications during surgery, sometimes a second surgery is needed to improve the vision, or the lens implant must be inserted subsequently;

• Bleeding inside the eye is possible, yet extremely rare and will resolve itself in a few months;
• Eyelid bruising – to avoid this, do not squeeze your eyes shut during surgery;
• Temporarily increased pressure in the eye;
• Swelling of the cornea;
• Swelling of the macula;
• Retinal detachment;
• Optic nerve atrophy – the risk is higher in patients with glaucoma;
• Endophthalmitis, a serious infection of the intraocular tissues, might cause loss of vision or even of the eye (this is very uncommon, because antibiotics are injected into the eye directly following the surgery);
• Allergic reaction to a medication that cannot be foreseen.

Complications occur very rarely and can be successfully treated in most cases. However, you should be aware of the fact that this kind of surgery – as every other surgery – involves risks. Complications resulting in blindness are extremely uncommon, yet possible.

The most common complication, which can occur months, but in most cases years, after the surgery, is clouding of the posterior lens capsule. During the surgery, the capsule that contains the lens inside the eye is opened, the lens is emulsified and replaced with an artificial one. This means that the artificial lens is inserted exactly where your old lens was. Only the anterior face of the capsule containing the lens is removed, whereas the posterior capsule is left intact. The posterior capsule sometimes becomes opaque (usually over years), thus compromising visual acuity. This complication is treated by a special type of laser used to open the posterior capsule as well, thus restoring the vision. This laser procedure only needs to be performed once. It is a quick and painless outpatient procedure, which only takes a few minutes and does not require any incisions.