SECONDARY LENS IMPLANT

We are frequently asked by someone who is not happy with contact lenses or cataract glasses if it is possible to have an implant lens inserted some months or years after cataract surgery. The answer is that yes it is possible, but it is necessary to decide in each individual situation whether the things that are bothering the person are bad enough to be worth another operation. If the eye has been previously injured and the lens or cataract was previously removed these cases can be very challenging to put the IOL into the sulcus. Sometimes the IOL can become decentered. Sometimes the iris is distorted such that doubling or ghosting of the image occurs. Sometimes we have to put the lens in the anterior chamber in front of the iris (colored part of the eye). Again, as in the original cataract surgery, some risk is involved, but it is nice to know that an alternative may be possible if the cataract glasses or contacts are causing serious difficulties.