“Cataract surgery?”
Can the drugs they put in your eye prior to surgery cause high blood pressure?
Female | 75 years old
Conditions: Diabetic
5 Answers
no
Most topical medications will not have an effect on systemic blood pressure.
It is unlikely that an antibiotic or a local steroid eyedrop will raise systemic (body) blood pressure, although steroids can raise eye pressure unassociated with blood pressure. NSAIDs are also used but local eyedrops are not concentrated nor potent enough to have a significant effect on systemic blood pressure. Sometimes the dilating drops are short-acting and can have effects on blood pressure but the effects would be negligible and transient because you only have cataract surgery twice in your life.
Not unless they are different than usual and customary.
Yes, the dilating drop "Phenylephrine may also cause dose-dependent increases in blood pressure and reductions in heart rate and cardiac output (particularly in people with preexisting cardiac dysfunction) by increasing systemic vascular resistance. Phenylephrine belongs to the class of medicines known as nasal decongestants." Most of the time they use a low dose of 2.5% but on occasion use a higher 10% dose to help with dilation this may cause an increase in BP and affect the heart rate.
