Dropped Lens

[elsa269]

My father, who is 77 years old, undergone cataract surgery (Phacoemulsification) in the left eye in January but during surgery some pieces of the lens fell back in his eye. He had to come back a week later to see if the pieces had desolved which they had not. After two weeks the doctor tried to get some pieces out but still could not get everything and he had to go back occassionally to see if the rest would dessolve which it didn't. My father got very depressed as he could do anything and finally he just lied on his bed in darkened room with terrible headache as he could not stand any light at all. His next appointment was still a month away but we asked the doctor to take a see to him earlier as he could not wait that long. The doctor operated on him the next day, finally taking all the lens pieces out. Although his eye is still very sensitive for light the headaches disappeared and he is getting some vision back. It's still watery but not as uncomfortable anymore and he will now have to wait another 6 months before the doctor can replace the lens. Was there a mistake made or does this happen often with a cataract operation?

[alijangra]

Hi elsa269,

I used to work in a day surgery unit where they carried out this operation. In all my time assisting with this procedure (6 months) I did not come across this happening. As the procedure is done under local anaesthetic it is imperative that the patient does not move their eye, could this have happened? Does your dad remember much about it or did he try to switch off? I think you should press the hospital for answers and dont be scared to do so. Did they give a reason for having to wait 6 months to replace the lens? It seems excessive.

[elsa269]

Thanks for your answer. The reason for waiting 6 months given is that his eye should be healed and strong before they can do another operation (lens implant). I do not know if he moved his eye during the operation as he had local anaestetic. My feeling is that the doctor made a mistake but this is very difficult to prove of course. We got another doctor to do the lens implant and he also confirms that this sometimes can happen and is not the fault of the doctor (of course he will not put his collegue in a bad light). It is very unfortunate that it happened and we must just hope that the next operation will enable him to see again and to be healthy again. Kind regards, .