YAG Laser Iridotomy Complications

Excellent post. Pretty good explanation of the procedure. Thanks for sharing. Ihad 2 holes per eye done and I have had open angle Glaucoma for 18 years. Pressures have dropped about 40%.

Yes. Had this same ordeal after my Iridotomy and my Dr. said that that just confirmed that the procedure was successful. So no worries. Hope this helps. Be well.

Since it's been a few years since your Laser Iridotomy have you had any issues with cataracts? I read that the Laser Iridotomy procedure can lead to the need for lens extraction a few years out (ie cataract surgery).

Just wondering what position did you have the Iridotomy (holes) ? was it the 11 or 1 oclock=Superior OR the 3 or 9 oclock= Temporal

i had this after my cataract surgery. but it dissipated on its own, i,m recovering from the laser now inflammation is the issue

Good morning. I just wanted to share my experience with the group. I had a laser iridotomy procedure done to both my eyes. My right eye was done last week and my left eye was done yesterday. I first went to my optometrist about 6 months ago due to the fact that I had a weird feeling in my right eye - a feeling like there was fluid building up in my eye and had headaches. The dr said it looked like I had narrow angles and sent me to an Opthamologist. At that appt she said that I do have narrow angles and scheduled me in for a laser iridotomy the following month. I think I was in shock at the appointment and didnt ask all the questions I had. I ended up spending a lot of time online connecting with people who had the procedure and reading so many posts and horror stories about the actual procedure and the possible side effects. There were some positive experiences as well. I was so freaked out that I almost cancelled my appt even though I was still experiencing symptoms. Going online can be scary. I was so scared that entire month before my appt. I did go ahead with the procedure on both eyes. The right eye last week and my left eye yesterday. I would like to let you know my experience. I understand that everyone is different and will experience different things and in no way am I trying to downplay the experiences of others but only want to share my experience to try to help others. Before my appt I did take 2 tylenol as I heard that some people get awful headaches from the drops they use to constrict the pupils. At both appts I did not experience any headaches or pain from the drops. Right before the laser I had the numbing drops put in. Next is the lense thing they put on your eye that has gel on it. It didnt hurt just felt a bit weird. I was told a specific area to look at. All I could see was the gel....no lights or anything. The sound of the laser wasnt loud at all...just a clicking sound. Didnt startle me at all. The right eye took about 8 times and I could feel something only with the last 2 lasers. Wasn't painful at all!!! Felt like I got something in my eye. My experience with the left eye was almost the same except that eye was only lasered 4 times but my eye pressure went up afterwards which I got drops for that I will use for a week and will use the anti inflammatory drops for 4 days. Fortunately I haven't had any side effects really. My eyes are/were sensitive to lights and screens for a few days after and I haven't noticed anything else except that I dont have the headaches anymore and that feeling of fluid build up has gone away. I hope this might help someone. I was so scared going in I was actually surprised that I did. I go in a month for a follow up appt to make sure everything looks good.

@michaels777 Welcome Michel to our great group Thank you Colleen for asking me to tell of my experience on YAG .I had cataract surgery ,both eyes done 2weeks apart After surgery it was shortly after that I had a cloudy film on my eyes and had to have it lasered off Dr said there was no prep for this To remove this film took only seconds I had no after affects It is necessary to put your drops in from the cataract surgery I went out to eat after done I did have a friend drive me since I wasn't sure of what to expect

Hi @michaels777, welcome. You'll notice that I moved your message to this existing discussion about cataract surgery and YAG laser, so that you can meet others who have had this procedure. Click VIEW & REPLY in the email notification to scroll through past messages.

I'd like to invite @jigglejaws94 @mac2018 @lioness and others to help you prepare for your upcoming appointment with the retinal surgeon. I applaud you for doing due diligence and using Google to help inform yourself. You mention that the circles are there in the morning. Do they lessen throughout the day? What about the vitreous gel, does it change throughout the day?

I am 50 years old and had my cataract surgery one year ago (toric lenses), since then I have been through some horrible stuff. I had Macular Edema in both eyes a short while after my cataract surgeries, but this seems to have cleared up according to my retinal scans and multiple examinations. Once my Macular Edema cleared up in both eyes I had the YAG laser to clear up my posterior capsular opacification. The next morning after my YAG laser, I woke up and I knew something was terrible wrong, In dim light (even indoors with fluorescent lighting), I could see a fuzzy halo around lights and starbursts too. At night time when I am driving, every light ranging from headlights to traffic lights....any light at night, I can see long stretched out spiky starbursts. The brighter the light (like those super bright headlights you see in newer cars), the longer and stretchy the starburst will be. Every once in a while the starburst will also have a rainbow effect to it that is inside the starburst itself. Note: I am seeing the starbursts with or without my glasses, so it wouldn't be residual astigmatism like my doctor thought it might be. I am also seeing bright oddly shaped circle lights every morning right now like when I had my macular edema, when I went to my doctor he did another retinal scan of my eyes but it showed no macular edema. My vitreous gel seems to be a mess also, I can live with floaters, but now it seems like the vitreous gel is clumping together or something, and when I look to the left and right or up and down I see like something hazy and sweeping going the opposite way that I am looking. I asked if my lenses got pitted or damaged or something during my YAG laser treatment but my doctor said no. My doctor had some "copy and paste" explanation for everything (like basically well...just live with it), so I went to see a second doctor (at my HMO hospital), and after her examination she basically said the same thing "well you're seeing 20/20 with glasses" along with her "copy and paste" explanations as well. Not happy with her responses, I asked politely to be referred to the retinal surgeon...she didn't like it that much, and after that her demeanor changed for the worse. So moving forward...I've been researching Dr. Google (doctors hate when I do this, lol), I was thinking that maybe they should widen the YAG treatment area more (maybe it will clear up the starbursts cause I have large pupils), and maybe I should get a vitrectomy (for my clumpy vitreous gel or whatever else it might be that is possibly pulling at my retina causing the circles of light in the morning right when I wake)? I see the retinal surgeon later this month, is there any suggestions you guys might give me that I might bring to the table when I see him? I feel like I am going blind or something. Thank you.

Unfortunately it happens to some patients. It is called a dysphotopsia. I had bilateral peripheral iridotomies over two years ago and I still have residual crescent of light that I can sometimes see. It is the worst when watching a movie on our big screen TV, when driving in sunlight without sunglasses or when looking directly towards a window that is too bright. I doubt mine will ever change as it has remained essentially the same since fall of 2016. I will say that there have been stretches of time that go by that I don't seem to notice it as much but then later will be bothered again. Sorry to hear that you are experiencing this.