Risk of Surgery
Risks for retinal surgery include:
- Development of a retinal tear or detachment during surgery or afterwards
- For retinal detachment surgery, the retina does not reattach fully, or redetaches again after surgery
- Need for further retinal surgery or procedures
- Eye redness and discomfort after surgery
- Cataract
- Double vision
- Droopy eyelid
- Change in eyeglass prescription
- Change in the size and shape of the pupil (opening in the front of the eye that allows light to get into the eye)
- Severe infection of the eye (rare)
- Severe bleeding inside the eye (rare)
- Vision loss (rare)
- Loss of the eye (extremely rare)
- Death (extremely rare)
Preoperative Care
Retinal surgeries in the operating room can usually be performed under general or local anesthesia. Local anesthesia usually means a numbing shot around the eye. Please let your doctor know if you are unable to lay still on your back for an hour or so, have severe neck or back pain when laying flat, or have severe claustrophobia or restless legs.
Please let your doctors know if you are taking any blood thinners such as aspirin or Coumadin. Your doctors may want you to stop these prior to retina surgery.
Do not wear any eye makeup or artificial eyelashes on the eye to be operated on for 1 week prior to surgery.
Please let your doctors know if you are taking any medicines for diabetes or high blood pressure (especially angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor blockers). Your doctors may want you to hold these 24 hours before surgery.
Please let your doctors know if you have a pacemaker.
Do not eat or drink anything at least 6 hours before your check-in time for surgery. This means no coffee, milk, or unnecessary water. You can take tiny sips of water with your pills.
Postoperative Care
You will most likely be able to go home or to a hotel after your surgery is done. You will need someone to take you home or to a hotel after your surgery.
In most cases, you will see an eye doctor for postoperative visits one day, one week, and 4-6 weeks after your surgery, depending on your eye doctor. Some eye doctors forgo the one week visit.
You will be need to pick up eye drops after surgery. These will be started the day after surgery.
There will be an eyepatch over the eye after surgery. Please keep it on until the eye care team takes it off the next day.
Some mild eye discomfort is normal the night after surgery, as well as for the first few weeks after surgery. It is ok to take acetaminophen (e.g., Tylenol) for mild pain after surgery. If the pain is severe and not improving with acetaminophen, please call or see your eye doctor.
For 4-7 days after surgery, do not rub the eye that had surgery, avoid heavy lifting or straining, and do not submerge the eye that had surgery underwater (no bathing or swimming).
It is ok to shower after surgery, but avoid getting tap water in the eye that had surgery.
Gas bubble/oil bubble precautions
If the doctor placed a gas or oil bubble in the eye, you cannot sleep or lay flat on your back while the gas or oil bubble is in the eye. Please position per your doctor’s instructions.
If you have a gas bubble in the eye, you cannot fly on an airplane or go up to high altitudes until the gas bubble goes away.
A gas bubble will slowly go away over 1-2 months, while a silicone oil bubble will require another surgery to remove it.
You may notice a line in your vision as the gas bubble goes away. This is normal.
Blood thinners
If you had your blood thinners stopped prior to surgery, please ask your doctors when you can restart them.
You may notice mild floaters, mild flashing lights, or mild bloody discharge from the eye after surgery. This is normal.
If you develop severe eye pain, or severe vision decrease after surgery, please call or see your eye doctor immediately. The phone number for the Loma Linda University Eye Institute is 909-558-EYES or 909-558-4000.