How soon can one fly after cataract surgery??
Answers: If you have had an uneventful 'Phacoemulsification' the current standard for cataract surgery, you could, if really pushed, fly the same day.
Just be careful about NOT doing these things:
- bending forward
- lifting your luggage or other heavy objects.
Cataract surgery does not involve gases being injected into the eye (which is the case in retinal surgery) and therefore is not an absolute contraindication for flying.
The best person to answer your question will be your surgeon. If he/she feels everything went as planned and no additional procedures were needed I don't see why they would stop you from flying.
Of course followup after any operation is important. If you're flying out far make sure you have made arrangements to be able to see an ophthalmologist:
- should you have any pain/redness/loss of vision in the operated eye, especially in the first week.
- for suture removal (although sutures are rarely used for cataract surgery now)
- for your routine post-operative check, preferably by the original surgeon.
That would be entirely up to the Ophthalmologist performing the operation.
The problem with leaving the area that has the surgeon, is that if there's a problem, who's going to take care of it? and if he does 'fix' it, would he fix it like the surgeon would have liked it done? and, if it involves a loss of vision, and the cause is due to a 'real' fault on someone, who do you 'blame'? And blame or not, will you have compromised your ultimate vision?
Aside from that, you could fly within....how long does it take to get to the airport?
When we do retina surgery, there are procedures used which utilize air and/or gas. Some of these gases expand over the next few hours/day, and others are diluted before placing them inside the eye so they're not going to expand.
But going up in a plane, to a cabin pressure of 8000 feet, is going to make any gas bubble expand. If it expands fast enough, and you can't drain the fluid out fast enough, the pressure in the eye will go up. If it goes up enough, it can shut off the central retinal artery. Once that happens, you've got 90 minutes.
People with central retina artery occlusions basically have 90 minutes to get it unblocked. Usually the block is from a plaque from the carotid vessel on that side, or the aortic valve, or mitral valve, or even the aortic arch. It's a physical block. With the air in the eye causing high pressure, there's not going to be anyone there to remove the air or gas while on the plane. Can be done, just not the sort of thing people get ready for when flying...and the security guys would take those instruments away anyway...being all sharp.
So, I'd imagine that you can make the surgery a minor inconvenience with the surgery, the patch, and later some drops, see the surgeon the next day, if OK..go, or....travel, and though probably nothing would go wrong, it could be the beginning of a 'big' mistake. So if you HAVE to go, do the surgery another time when you don't have to rush, don't have to make a minor decision that could have major consequences.
Just be careful about NOT doing these things:
- bending forward
- lifting your luggage or other heavy objects.
Cataract surgery does not involve gases being injected into the eye (which is the case in retinal surgery) and therefore is not an absolute contraindication for flying.
The best person to answer your question will be your surgeon. If he/she feels everything went as planned and no additional procedures were needed I don't see why they would stop you from flying.
Of course followup after any operation is important. If you're flying out far make sure you have made arrangements to be able to see an ophthalmologist:
- should you have any pain/redness/loss of vision in the operated eye, especially in the first week.
- for suture removal (although sutures are rarely used for cataract surgery now)
- for your routine post-operative check, preferably by the original surgeon.
That would be entirely up to the Ophthalmologist performing the operation.
The problem with leaving the area that has the surgeon, is that if there's a problem, who's going to take care of it? and if he does 'fix' it, would he fix it like the surgeon would have liked it done? and, if it involves a loss of vision, and the cause is due to a 'real' fault on someone, who do you 'blame'? And blame or not, will you have compromised your ultimate vision?
Aside from that, you could fly within....how long does it take to get to the airport?
When we do retina surgery, there are procedures used which utilize air and/or gas. Some of these gases expand over the next few hours/day, and others are diluted before placing them inside the eye so they're not going to expand.
But going up in a plane, to a cabin pressure of 8000 feet, is going to make any gas bubble expand. If it expands fast enough, and you can't drain the fluid out fast enough, the pressure in the eye will go up. If it goes up enough, it can shut off the central retinal artery. Once that happens, you've got 90 minutes.
People with central retina artery occlusions basically have 90 minutes to get it unblocked. Usually the block is from a plaque from the carotid vessel on that side, or the aortic valve, or mitral valve, or even the aortic arch. It's a physical block. With the air in the eye causing high pressure, there's not going to be anyone there to remove the air or gas while on the plane. Can be done, just not the sort of thing people get ready for when flying...and the security guys would take those instruments away anyway...being all sharp.
So, I'd imagine that you can make the surgery a minor inconvenience with the surgery, the patch, and later some drops, see the surgeon the next day, if OK..go, or....travel, and though probably nothing would go wrong, it could be the beginning of a 'big' mistake. So if you HAVE to go, do the surgery another time when you don't have to rush, don't have to make a minor decision that could have major consequences.
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