What should be done if I need to increase the power of my current IOL?
FEB 21, 2014
Question:
I had cataract surgery two weeks ago and an IOL was implanted in my right eye. Now I found out that the power of the lens is low and my eye doctor suggested he implant another lens on top to make the proper correction. I would like to know if it is a good idea to have a second lens implanted in my eye or to explant the wrong power lens and implant another one with the correct power. Another question: how hard is it to calculate the correct power of an intraocular lens? Note that my eyes have no diseases other than the cataract.
Answer:
It is important to remember that the goal of cataract surgery is to remove the cataract and not necessarily provide improved uncorrected vision without glasses.
If vision correction is sought with cataract surgery, premium lens implants can be placed for out-of-pocket expenses with either toric lens implants for astigmatism or multifocal lenses for improved distance and near vision.
Ophthalmologists will perform measurements on the eyes prior to cataract surgery to better predict the lens implant that can provide your best vision but these devices are not perfect and sometimes the lens implant they suggest is not the implant to make uncorrected vision perfect. In these cases, several options exist to provide better uncorrected vision. These include the following: intraocular lens exchange, piggyback lens placement or laser vision correction surgery. Your doctor can best decide which route is best for you. If you are not comfortable with his suggestions, a second opinion can be helpful. Most eye surgeons will perform a lens exchange if the surgery was done less than two months from the additional surgery, rather than place a piggyback lens on top of another lens.