The Experience

What Should I Do the Night Before Cataract Surgery?

Written and edited by Todd Driver, MD · Board-Certified Ophthalmologist · Cataract and Refractive Surgeon, Irvine, CA

Published September 21, 2026 · Updated September 22, 2026 · Medically reviewed by Todd Driver, MD

Quick answer: Your surgery center's instruction sheet comes first. The night before cataract surgery, eat a good dinner, wash your face and eyelids, take off any false lashes, and get some sleep. The morning of surgery, do not eat or drink after your center's cutoff, take your morning blood pressure or heart medication with a small sip of water, skip the eye makeup, wear comfortable clothes, and have an adult lined up to drive you home.

A bedside table the night before cataract surgery: a glass of water, a phone, and a folded surgery center instruction sheet. Staged illustration.

It's very hard to get something wrong the night before cataract surgery. The morning of surgery is a different story. That's where I see things go wrong, and a piece of toast or a skipped blood pressure pill can delay your surgery or move it to another day.

This is what we tell our own patients. It's a good general guide, but surgery centers differ, so where your instruction sheet says something different, follow your sheet.

The night before

Tonight is the easy part. Eat a big, delicious dinner, because you most likely won't be able to eat the morning of surgery.

Wash your face as well as you can. Take off your false lashes, and try to clean your eyelids as much as you can. We sterilize your lids and lashes before the surgery, but if you can at least get the false lashes off, that would be a big help.

I would try not to do too much reading on Google, because it has a tendency to stress my patients out much more than it helps them. Try not to think about it too much, and get a good night's sleep.

Can I eat anything the morning of cataract surgery?

Don't eat

Don't eat anything. Don't eat any toast. Don't drink any coffee. The one exception is a small sip of water to take your medications.

An anesthesiologist will not let me operate on you if you've eaten too soon before the surgery. They will either delay your surgery or reschedule it to another day.

Every center is different. Some say no solid food for six hours before surgery, some say eight, and some say nothing after midnight. Look at your instruction sheet and don't eat within that time period. My surgery center is one of the midnight ones: nothing to eat or drink after midnight. At my center, if your surgery is after 2 pm, you can have a light breakfast before 6 am.

Take your blood pressure and heart medications

If you normally take medication for high blood pressure or a heart condition in the morning, take it the morning of surgery with a small sip of water. I've seen patients come in with sky-high blood pressures because they didn't take their blood pressure medications, and that can delay your surgery too.

For your other daily medications, ask your doctor, or the nurse who calls you before surgery, which ones to take that morning. For diabetes medications, do what your primary care doctor tells you.

If you take a GLP-1

If you take a GLP-1 medication, like Ozempic, Mounjaro, Victoza, or Trulicity, ask your own surgery center what it wants you to do, because centers differ on this one. My surgery center has patients stop it one week before surgery. GLP-1s slow your stomach emptying, so even if you haven't eaten within the time window, you still may have food in your stomach, and anesthesia may not let us operate on you. If you're on a GLP-1 and you haven't stopped it, call your center in the morning.

What to wear, what to bring, and who drives

Wear comfortable clothes, and don't wear any eye makeup. Slip-on shoes or sandals and a short-sleeved shirt that buttons or zips in front work best. Bring your insurance card and a photo ID, and leave jewelry and other valuables at home. Hearing aids and dentures stay in unless the team needs them out.

Make sure you have your ride to and from the surgery center. At least in my surgery center, you cannot take an Uber or a taxi home. Most patients have light sedation for the surgery, so you need an adult who can drive you home. If you don't have a driver, we can't do your surgery that day. Your driver has to stay at the center unless we can reach them by cell phone.

The checklist

Don't eat or drink anything after your center's cutoff.
Take your blood pressure or heart medication with a small sip of water.
If you're on a GLP-1 and haven't stopped it, call your center.
No eye makeup, false lashes off if you can, comfortable clothes.
Bring your insurance card and a photo ID.
Make sure your ride home is taken care of.

Do those things, and you've done your whole job. Everything after that is on us.

What happens when you walk in the door

A nurse from my surgery center calls you the day before with your exact arrival time. Plan to be there for about two hours.

You check in at the front desk and wait in the waiting room. The nurse takes you into the back, into the pre-op area. They take your vitals, your blood pressure and temperature, put your belongings in a bag, give you dilating drops, and place an IV. Then you wait for the dilating drops to kick in. The drops take about 20 to 30 minutes, so that wait is normal. It's built in.

I then come to see you in the pre-op area, talk to you, and mark your eye, to make sure we're doing the correct eye.

If you're nervous

The number one thing I tell my patients the night before is that it will be a lot easier than you think it will be.

When I mark the eye I ask my patients how they're feeling, and sometimes they tell me, "I'm really nervous. I'm very stressed out." You'll meet your anesthesiologist soon after that, and they'll make sure you're nice and relaxed during the surgery. Let us know if you're feeling nervous or stressed during the procedure, because we can adjust your sedation during the surgery. You honestly probably won't remember most of the surgery.

After the surgery, most of my patients say, "Man, that was it? That was so much easier than I thought." Some don't even realize the surgery started.

Now, I'm not going to tell you there's nothing to be nervous about. It's your eye, and I'd never brush that off. But the success rate of this surgery is above 99 percent. The odds are very highly in your favor.

By the second eye, my patients walk in much more relaxed. They tell me, "I already know what to expect. It's not going to be as bad as I thought." I know it's scary any time you get surgery, especially on your eyes. I've done thousands of these surgeries, it's a very safe procedure, and I think you're going to be really happy with your improved vision.

Common questions

Can I eat before cataract surgery?

Dinner the night before, yes, and make it a good one. The morning of surgery, no. Your sheet has your cutoff.

Can I drink coffee the morning of cataract surgery?

No. For a morning surgery at my center, the only thing after midnight is a small sip of water to get your pills down.

Can I take an Uber home after cataract surgery?

No. After sedation, an adult you know has to take you home.

How long will I be at the surgery center?

Plan on about two hours. Most of that is waiting for the dilating drops to work.

Sources: American Society of Anesthesiologists, Practice Guidelines for Preoperative Fasting · Multisociety guidance on GLP-1 medications before surgery (ASA, AGA, ASMBS, ISPCOP, SAGES, October 2024)

Having surgery with me?

Questions the night before go to the office at OC Eye Associates, Irvine, or to the surgery center number on your sheet.

Call (949) 653-9500

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