I take care of a 72-year-old man who had cataract surgery and had an IOL put in his left eye over two months ago. What is the discharge coming from his eyes and the burning that he complains of?
OCT 26, 2015
Question:
I take care of a 72-year-old man who had cataract surgery and had an IOL put in his left eye over two months ago. Every day he has quite a bit of discharge coming from both eyes that I have to clean out. He says it burns really bad. What could this mean?
Answer:
If the discharge was present in the eye with the recent eye surgery, then I would suspect an infection related to the surgery. However, given both eyes are involved, the symptoms are more consistent with a conjunctivitis (pink eye) of both eyes. I recommend seeing your ophthalmologist to determine if it’s conjunctivitis or possibly an infection of the eyelids (blepharitis). Both would require antibiotics. Additionally, cleansing the eyelids with a warm washcloth and baby shampoo with the eyes closed can improve symptoms if it is related to blepharitis.