After Cataract Surgery Pupil Size and Shape

My pupil has an abnormal shape and size after cataract surgery, is this normal?

The dilating drops that were used as part of your surgery can take 3-4 days to wear off and result in a dilated or enlarged pupil until it returns to its normal size. Until this dilation wears off you may experience halos around light, blurred vision and sensitivity to light.

A strong dilating drop called Atropine is used in some patients which can take longer to wear off, you can ask your doctor if this was used.

Other causes of an irregular, unequal, misshapen, off-center, or oval pupil size and shape post cataract surgery include:

- Surgical manipulation of your iris (your surgeon may have had to "stretch" your pupil in order to make it wide enough to perform the operation)
- The pupil sphincter muscles may have been affected by the instrument your surgeon used to break up the cataract
- Scar tissue can form between the edge of your pupil and the cataract

If your pupil does not return to its normal size after 3-4 days you can ask your eye doctor about it. Sometimes a pupil constricting eye drop called pilocarpine can be used to make your pupil smaller after cataract surgery.