Who had Radical Keratotomy and now needs cataract surgery?

@peperomia, good questions to ask a few ophthalmic surgeons or ophthalmologists. I can understand your wanting to know. The effects of RK were praised in the early days pre LASIK and other approaches, but long-term results of the RK have not all been as positive.

Has your Radical Keratotomy been successful? Do you have any RK effects that might challenge the success of cataract surgery?

I've not had many bad experiences. My right eye fluctuated quite a bit, but the left eye is 20 40 uncorrected. I wear glasses again but I'm still happy with my results with the RK. Now my right eye is pretty much shot. I have wet macular degeneration in that eye. I also had a retinal tear in that eye.

I am getting my final measurements for my cataract surgery this week which will help determine my lens choice. There are so many factors though it is overwhelming. 8 & 12 incisions, with astigmatism and a scar to the center.

I had RK in 1992 when myopia was -8 and -9. Bcos my sight were so bad my skilled surgeon Dr Manger in CA did 3 surgeries in each eye so he wouldn't have to cut so deep all in one go. Other than the halos that I could see at night due to the long cuts it was great and definitely better than being legally blind! However in a couple of yrs my eyesight started worsening again so in 1995 Dr Manger did Lasik and I had almost perfect eyesight for decades except that in the night I continued to "see" the cuts from my RK when my pupils dialated. Finally in 2020 I had catract surgery with Johnson & Johnson PCB00 lenses. I had perfect vision for 3 months but then my vision got cloudy. Went back to my surgeon and he said that the scars from my RK grew over my lenses. However he did perform a corrective PTK surgery on my left eye in 2022 as it was particulary foggy. Once again great vision for 3 months and then the scars grew back. My surgeon advised me not to do any more corrections and a 2nd opinion said the same. Since then I live with somewhat foggy distance vision and do not drive or travel alone anymore. I do not wear reading glasses since the cataract surgeries either. There are no prescription glasses that I can see better with. My surgeon said I could try scleral lenses but I can't be bothered to go through such a laborious process. For someone who has had bad eyes my whole life and a total of 11 surgeries in both eyes I figure this vision is better than what I had as a child and I can live with this!

@bengaltigre
I am so happy to hear of your success in being able to see better. Best Wishes