Cataract surgery decreases eye pressure in the short-term

Patients who are being treated with ocular hypotensive medications who undergo cataract surgery experience a short-term decrease in their intraocular pressure (IOP) and a long-term decrease in their medications according to results from the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study (OHTS).

Study results showed that before cataract surgery, the patients had slightly elevated IOP but after surgery, IOP was notably lower. One year after the surgery, the IOP was very similar between the cataract patients and the control group.

Researchers found that cataract surgery reduced by half the mean number of hypotensive medications that were needed up to 6 years post-op. Twenty percent of cataract surgery patients needed no medications after surgery. Of note, only about 10% of cataract surgery patients developed glaucoma after surgery.