Reduction in dizziness, not falls, after routine cataract surgery

(HealthDay)—Cataract surgery is associated with a reduction in the number of patients with dizziness, but not with a decrease in falls, according to a study published online Nov. 9 in Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics.

Elvira Supuk, from the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom, and colleagues examined whether dizziness and fall rates change due to routine cataract surgery. Self-reported dizziness and falls were assessed in 287 patients before and after routine cataract surgery.

The researchers observed a significant reduction in the number of patients with dizziness after cataract surgery (52 versus 38 percent; P < 0.001) and a nonsignificant reduction in the number of patients who fell in the six months after surgery (23 versus 20 percent; P = 0.35). There were improvements in dizziness after first eye surgery (49 versus 33 percent; P = 0.01) and surgery on both eyes (58 versus 35 percent; P < 0.001), but not after surgery on the second eye (52 versus 45 percent; P = 0.68). Significant links were identified between postoperative falls and change in spectacle type (switch to multifocal spectacles linked to increased risk). Changes in best eye visual acuity and in oblique astigmatic correction correlated with postoperative dizziness.

"Dizziness is significantly reduced by first (or both) eye cataract surgery and this is linked with improvements in best eye visual acuity, although changes in oblique astigmatic correction increased dizziness," the authors write.

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