Low Blood Pressure & Cataract Operation

[Suzannew]

My mum is due to have a cataract operation on one eye next week. She had a pre-op examination last week and has been told her blood pressure is very low, and the reading it at the moment means that she will not be able to have the operation. She is on water tablets for a heart condition and these were stopped immediately to see if her blood pressure would go up, but predicably she has had to go back on them as she had started to get an increase of fluid in the legs and lungs (due to her heart condition). What I don't understand is if she is having a local anesthetic and not a general, how is this relevant to an eye operation?

[Sqad]

Suzannew....very, very good question.
I would have thought that if the BP was low, then the intra ocular pressure (pressure in the eye) would be low, thus making the operation easier.

It might be worth asking the GP if her "water tablet" dose could be halved.

[Suzannew]

Thank you Sqad for your quick reply. Will ask Mum to suggest this. Could you just clarify for me, if they refuse to do the operation because of the BP (which doesn't seem to make sense then) is it because if there were any complications during the procedure for example bleeding or something, that this could cause her problems? Thanks for your help.

[Sqad]

Lower the BP the less the bleeding.

[China Doll]

Have you spoken to the consultant or a member of the team?

Pre-assessment see patients from all walks of life and I've lost count of the amount of times they've queried whether a patient should have surgery and my boys were more than happy to go ahead because they know the patient, the type of surgery they're doing and how it will or will not effect any pre-existing condition. There are some things which obviously make people unfit for surgery but some things are down to the surgeons discretion.