Cataract surgery preparation and outcome

Saturday, October 17th, 2009 at 2:06 pm Post in Eye Diseases, Vision Surgery

Early signs of cataracts such as declining visual clarity may be ok. You are still able to drive, watch television and so on. But if your daily lives are severely affected by advanced cataracts that can not be corrected by eyeglasses or contacts, it is the right time to receive a cataract surgery. During a surgery, the clouding on your lens will be removed and an artificial intraocular lens will be implanted to restore your focusing power.

Certain medications and nutritional supplements may cause side effects during a cataract surgery, so that the patient should consultant the doctor that whether he should stop taking certain medications. Another critical issue is the selection of IOL type: a single vision IOL or a presbyopia-correcting IOL. Multifocal IOLs are always more expensive but they will provide more clear vision for people above 40. After determining the IOL type, another preparation before the surgery is the measurement of IOL power. For most of the patients, a cataract surgery will treat only one eye at a time, even if both of the eyes have cataracts. If necessary, the other eye will be corrected at least two weeks later.

On the day of the surgery, the patient may be asked to avoid drinking liquids and eye makeup. For eye relaxation, a sedative may be used and your eye skin will be comprehensively cleansed. Using an ultrasound-driven instrument, the doctor will make an incision into your eye, so that your lens’ cloud can be divided into small pieces. Another instrument will be used to get them out through the incision. The last two steps are implanting the IOL and suturing the incision.

On your way home after the surgery, a protective shield is needed to block sun rays. During the following few weeks, eye drops prescribed by your doctor should be applied several times every day. It is also important to avoid some things during the recovery period, such as heavy lifting, any activity that increases your eye stress, water contact, dust etc… For best outcome, you should also follow those special instructions from your doctor.

Even if the surgery has been performed successfully, certain complications may occur, such as glaucoma and intraocular pressure buildup. Other rare conditions include de-centered IOL, tearing of the posterior capsule and potential detached retinas. Some doctors think that detached retinas have no direct relation to the surgery, since some patients have already suffered from that before the surgery. Patients with high myopia may need to take a YAG laser capsulotomy procedure to correct a secondary cataract, which increases the risk of detached retina. The most severe complication should be endophthalmitis, which causes widespread inflammation or infection. Fortunately, the rate of developing endophthalmitis is as low as 0.1%.

It is reported that as much as 95.5% of patients can restore normal 20/40 vision and sight-threatening complications occur on only 2% of the patients, most among which are old individuals. The most satisfying outcomes are always found on young people.