Cataract Surgery, Twitching & Black Line

Question: I had cataract surgery in May this year. Over the past few weeks I have experienced terrible twitching of that eye on a very regular basis. I tried putting more drops in as thought it may be due to dry-eye, but these have not helped. I also notice a black line occasionally when I look in certain directions and feel I have something in my eye. Can you help please?
Answer: From your symptoms you may describing a number of different things. The twitching you report may or may not be related to your Cataract Surgery. The fact that you notice a black line maybe related to a visual phenomenon some patients experience with certain types of Lens Implants called "dysphotopsia" or if it is accompanied by any sense of floaters or flashes could be a symptom of a vitreous detachment, which is benign and self limiting, or less common-a tear or a retinal detachment. Most of these phenomenon are self limiting, including the optical symptom of dysphotopsia, however since there is a small outside possibiity of a retinal probelm it would be worthwhile to schedule a followup visit with your Cataract Surgeon to confirm that what you are experiencing is not a serious problem.

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