Last updated: 02/17/2009

Mortality as a direct result of cataract surgery is very rare. On the other hand, several studies have indicated that patients over the age of 50 who undergo cataract extraction have higher rates of mortality in the year following surgery than other...

patients in the same age group who have other types of elective surgery. Some researchers have interpreted these data to imply that cataracts related to the aging process reflect some kind of systemic weakness rather than a disorder limited to the eye.

About 23% of patients who have undergone cataract extraction have a postoperative complication. The majority of these, however, are not vision-threatening. The most common complication is swelling of the cornea (9.5%), followed by raised IOP (7.9%); uveitis (5.6%); leaking from the incision (1.2%); hyphema (1.1%); external eye infection (0.06%); endophthalmitis (0.03%); retinal detachment (0.03%); retinal tear (0.02%), and CME (0.017%). Of these complications, only endophthalmitis and retinal detachment or tear are considered potentially vision-threatening.

Standard ECCE and phacoemulsification have very similar success rates and complication rates when performed by surgeons of comparable skill and length of experience.