Is cataract surgery safe for patients above 65 years of age?

There are many surgeries where the risks increase significantly for older patients. Cataract surgery is not one of them. The eye is anatomically isolated and we are fortunate that health problems elsewhere in the body have so little effect on cataract surgery. For example, we usually do not stop anticoagulants (blood thinners) prior to cataract surgery. In addition, we commonly use eye drops for anesthesia, which means that the patient requires minimal sedation or other systemic medication while undergoing the surgery. We regularly operate on patients in their late 80s and early 90s with excellent success rates.