Given that cataract surgery is in most cases an outpatient procedure, patients are sent home shortly afterward and given instructions for using eyedrops to prevent infections and inflammation. If an injection was used to numb the eye for surgery, a patch may be required during the first night. A doctor or an assistant will check the eye the next morning. Vision may be blurry for 24 to 48 hours after surgery. Glasses are usually prescribed several weeks after surgery when the eye has healed.

YAG Capsulotomy

The capsule that is intentionally left in the eye to support the IOL may become cloudy as part of the normal healing process after cataract surgery. This condition is called "posterior capsule opacification" or "after-cataract," and it can reduce vision if it becomes dense enough.

When vision falls because of posterior capsule opacification, a small opening can be made in the capsule behind the IOL with a YAG laser, which is named for the material used to generate the laser energy (yttrium-aluminum-garnet).

Energy from the YAG laser can be precisely delivered to the capsule behind the IOL. It passes through the cornea and the IOL, without damaging them, and it is focused on the capsule that the surgeon can see with a slitlamp behind the IOL. The procedure is performed at a modified slitlamp in the surgeon's office.

A YAG capsulotomy is quick and painless. When it was invented two decades ago, it was a major surgical advance that allowed ophthalmologists to remove scar tissue from the capsule without returning to the operating room.