Carter Eye Center Lasik Vision Correction Blog - Dr Harvey Carter, Dallas TX

Most cataract surgery patients get good results from their surgery, but some have residual refractive errors after the procedure. Although cataracts will all be gone, patients sometimes have myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), or astigmatism. Most of the time, this is limited compared to the benefits of having the cataracts removed, but if you are bothered by blurry or distorted vision after cataract surgery there are many correction options available.

Like before your cataract surgery, glasses or contact remain an issue, but many ophthalmologists recommend refractive surgery, especially LASIK. LASIK and other types of refractive surgery have the advantage of being able to simultaneously correct multiple refractive errors at once.

There are some limitations of refractive surgery after cataract surgery, however. In particular, several factors may affect your results:

• Your risk for dry eyes
• Depletion of special cells on your cornea
• Post-surgical medications
• The type of IOL used

At this point, there is too little data to make definitive evaluations, but a limited number of studies and anecdotal experience by doctors show that multifocal IOLs (like ReZoom and ReSTOR) may make results less predictable.

Decisions about LASIK after cataract surgery must be made on a case-by-case basis. To learn more about cataract surgery, LASIK, and other refractive surgeries, please schedule a consultation at our Dallas practice today.