Is it advisable for a diabetic person to undergo cataract surgery and the risk of surgery?

Yes if needed: If you have no proliferative diabetic retinopathy and you have a visually significant cataract you should definitely consider surgery. Your surgical course should be just fine.

Yes: If the cataract is significant and impacting your vision and your surgeon believes it will help, cataract surgery can be done and should help. There are unique potential complications with cataract surgery in diabetics. You should discuss these with your surgeon.

Possibly.: If there is no associated diabetic retinopathy, signs of bleeding or leaking in the retinal layer, then proceeding with cataract surgery is advisable. Our research showed that cataract surgery in patients with diabetic retinopathy were at higher risk for retinal swelling(macular edema) and progression of their retinopathy. Get checked/treated for retinopathy before cataract surgery.

Yes: Besides the standard risks for cataract surgery, diabetics have an additional risk. Even in a perfect surgical case, diabetic retinopathy may worsen following surgery. If the cataract is deemed necessary to remove, then it should come out sooner than later, assuming that the retina is stable from a diabetic standpoint.