Cloudy Vision Months After Cataract Surgery? Understanding PCO and YAG Laser

Here is a worry we hear often: “Doctor, my cataract surgery went beautifully, but months later my vision has gone hazy again. Has the cataract come back?”

The reassuring answer is no. A cataract cannot come back, because the cloudy lens was removed for good. What has usually happened is a common, harmless and easily treated condition called PCO.

What is PCO?

During cataract surgery, your new artificial lens (IOL) sits inside a thin, clear membrane called the capsule. In some people, over months or years, the back of that capsule slowly turns cloudy. This is posterior capsule opacification, or PCO. Because the haze sits right behind your lens, vision drifts misty again, much as the original cataract did.

You will sometimes hear it called a “secondary cataract”, but it is not a cataract at all.

The good news: a two-minute laser fixes it

PCO is treated with a quick, painless, in-office procedure called a YAG laser capsulotomy. The laser opens a small clear window in the cloudy capsule, and vision usually sharpens almost straight away.

• No cuts, no injections, no stitches.
• It takes only a few minutes.
• You go home the same day and get back to normal quickly.
• Once it is done, PCO does not return in that eye.

You can read more about our laser procedures here.

When to get checked

If your once-clear vision after cataract surgery has slowly become hazy, glary or dim, mention it at your next visit, or sooner if it is bothering you. A simple examination will confirm whether PCO is behind it.

Clouding after cataract surgery sounds alarming, yet it is usually one of the easiest things we treat, often in less time than it takes to explain.

This article is general information, not a substitute for a personal consultation. If you have concerns about your eyes, please get in touch.