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What it is:
What You Can Expect:
The surgery is usually painless and takes less than an hour. Often patients stay awake and the eye is numbed with drops. If both eyes require surgery, they will be done separately four to eight weeks apart.
Who Is a Good Candidate:
If clouded vision makes daily activities difficult, cataract surgery may be a good choice. In most cases, putting off the surgery will not cause harm.
In-Depth Information:
| What It’s For | How It Works | Risks | All |
What It’s For
A cataract is a clouding of the eye’s naturally clear lens. The lens focuses light rays on the retina—the layer of light-sensing cells lining the back of the eye—to produce a sharp image of what we see. When the lens becomes cloudy, light rays cannot pass through it easily, and vision is blurred.
A cataract may not need to be treated if your vision is only slightly blurry. Simply changing your eyeglass prescription may help to improve your vision for a while.
Surgery is the only way to remove a cataract. You should talk to your ophthalmologist (Eye M.D.) about cataract surgery when you are no longer able to see well enough to do everyday activities.
The success rate of cataract surgery is excellent. Improved vision is achieved in the majority of patients if other vision-limiting problems are not present.
How It Works
A specialist can perform the surgery on an outpatient basis, which means you will go home the same day.
When you arrive, you will be given eyedrops and perhaps a mild sedative to help make you comfortable. You may get a shot to numb your eye. The skin around your eye will be thoroughly cleansed, and sterile coverings will be placed around your head. You may see light and movement, but you will not be able to see the surgery while it is happening.
Under an operating microscope, the surgeon will make a small incision in the eye, then using tiny surgical instruments will remove the cloudy lens from the eye. The back membrane of the lens (called the posterior capsule) is usually left in place.
A man-made, crystal clear intraocular lens is implanted in the eye to replace the natural lens that was removed. After the procedure, your doctor may place a shield or patch over your eye. After a short stay in the outpatient recovery area, you will be ready to go home.
After surgery, it is essential to follow your Eye M.D.'s instructions.
- Use the eyedrops as prescribed.
- Be careful not to rub or press on your eye.
- Avoid strenuous activities until your Eye M.D. tells you it’s okay to resume them.
- Ask your doctor when you can begin driving again.
- Wear eyeglasses or an eye shield, as advised by your doctor.
- If necessary, you can use over-the-counter pain medicine.
You can continue most normal daily activities
Lasers are not used in cataract removal surgery. However, the lens capsule (the part of the eye that holds the lens in place) sometimes becomes cloudy several months or years after the original cataract operation. If the cloudy capsule blurs your vision, your Eye M.D. can perform a second procedure using a laser. This procedure, called a posterior capsulotomy, uses a laser to make an opening in the cloudy lens capsule, restoring normal vision.
Risks
Serious complications of cataract surgery rarely occur. They include:
- infection;
- bleeding;
- swelling;
- detachment of the retina.
Call your Eye M.D. immediately if you have any of the following symptoms after surgery:
- pain not relieved by nonprescription pain medication;
- loss of vision;
- flashes or floaters;
- nausea, vomiting, or excessive coughing;
- injury to the eye.
Even if cataract surgery is successful, some patients may not see as well as they would like to. Other eye problems such as macular degeneration (aging of the retina), glaucoma, or diabetic retinopathy may limit vision after surgery. Even with these problems, cataract surgery may still be worthwhile.
Talk to your Eye M.D. to learn more about cataract surgery and its risks and benefits.
