More than 250,000 Australians undergo cataract surgery each year, making it the country’s most common elective procedure and one of the highest per capita rates in the world.
Yet a leading Brisbane ophthalmologist says patients are routinely making avoidable mistakes that can slow recovery or put their results at risk.
Dr Geoffrey Ryan says one of the most common mistakes is surprisingly simple: stopping eye drops too soon.
“Many patients feel so good within a few days that they assume the drops are no longer necessary. They are, and the consequences of abandoning them early can include prolonged recovery or avoidable complications.”
The second mistake, and one that tends to come up more in places like Queensland, where the water is part of daily life, is heading back in too soon. He advises holding off for at least two weeks, and closer to four if it’s the ocean or a public pool.
“Water harbours bacteria that can enter a healing incision, and infection inside the eye is something we work very hard to prevent.”
He also warns against rubbing the eye during recovery. A clear plastic eye shield is provided following surgery to wear at night which helps prevent inadvertent eye rubbing when asleep.
Beyond recovery mistakes, Dr Ryan is raising concerns about how long Australians are waiting for surgery.
Published Australian research shows a significant number of public patients experience falls while waiting, some resulting in fractures or head injuries.
“That is an entirely preventable harm. Some patients have lost their driver’s licence while waiting,” says Dr Ryan.
A meta-analysis of six studies found that cataract surgery reduces falls in older people by 32%. The procedure is also now associated in research with a lower likelihood of cognitive decline and a reduced chance of requiring aged care placement.
What Dr Ryan observes most consistently, however, is more personal than clinical. Patients who have withdrawn from their own lives, only to re-emerge weeks after a procedure that takes less than 20 minutes.
“A patient arrives having adapted their entire life to deteriorating sight. They’ve stopped driving at night, given up hobbies, declined social invitations, and slowly withdrawn. Six weeks after surgery, they’re back to living fully.”
A lot of people go into cataract surgery bracing themselves for discomfort that never really comes. Dr Ryan often sees that firsthand: “Modern cataract surgery under topical anaesthesia with sedation is genuinely comfortable. The vast majority of my patients report no memory of the actual procedure as a result of the sedation. This surprises them.”
And for anyone weighing up whether the time is right: “I’ve never had a patient tell me they wished they’d waited
longer,” he says.
