The list of treatments mentioned in various sources for Cataracts includes the following list. Always seek professional medical advice about any treatment or change in treatment plans.
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You need surgery to remove the cataract. During surgery your lens is taken out and a plastic lens, like a contact lens, is put in. The plastic lens stays in your eye all the time. Cataract surgery helps you see clearly again. (Source: excerpt from Keep your eyes healthy: NIDDK)
Cataracts often form slowly and cause no pain, redness, or tearing in the eye. Some stay small and don’t change eyesight very much. If a cataract becomes large or thick, it usually can be removed by surgery.
During surgery, the doctor takes off the clouded lens and, in most cases, puts in a clear, plastic lens. Cataract surgery is very safe. It is one of the most common surgeries done in the United States. (Source: excerpt from Aging and Your Eyes - Age Page - Health Information: NIA)
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Treatment consists of surgical extraction of the cataractous lens opacity and intraoperative correction of visual deficits. The current trend is to perform the surgery as a same-day procedure. Surgical procedures include the following:
❑ Extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE) removes the anterior lens capsule and cortex, leaving the posterior capsule intact. With this procedure, a posterior chamber intraocular lens (IOL) is implanted where the patient’s own lens used to be. (A posterior chamber IOL is currently the most common type used in the United States.) This procedure is appropriate for use in patients of all ages.
❑ Phacoemulsification uses ultrasonic vibrations to fragment and then emulsify the lens, which is then aspirated through a small incision.
❑ Intracapsular cataract extraction removes the entire lens within the intact capsule. This procedure is seldom performed today. ECCE with phacoemulsification has replaced it as the most commonly performed procedure.
❑ Discission and aspiration can still be used for children with soft cataracts, but this procedure has largely been replaced by phacoemulsification.
Infection is the most serious complication of intraocular surgery. Wound dehiscence can occur but is seldom a complication because of the small incision and minute sutures that are used. Hyphema, pupillary block glaucoma, and retinal detachment still occasionally occur.
The patient with an IOL implant may experience improved vision shortly after surgery if there’s no corneal or retinal pathology. Most IOLs correct for distance vision, but new IOLs are multifocal. However, the majority of patients will need either corrective reading glasses or a corrective contact lens, which will be fitted sometime between 4 and 6 weeks after surgery.
Where no IOL has been implanted, the patient may be given temporary aphakic cataract glasses; in about 4 to 8 weeks, he’ll be refracted for his own glasses.
Some patients who have an extracapsular cataract extraction develop a secondary membrane in the posterior lens capsule (which has been left intact), which causes decreased visual acuity. This membrane can be removed by the Nd:YAG laser, which cuts an area out of the center of the membrane, thereby restoring vision. Laser therapy isn’t used to remove a cataract.
Posterior capsular opacification occurs in approximately 15% to 20% of all patients within 2 years after cataract surgery.
Source: Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition), 2005
Surgery is indicated when the patient complains of functional visual impairment. Cataracts require surgical extraction of the opaque lens and intraoperative correction of visual deficits with a lens implant (intraocular lens) for best visual results. This procedure is usually performed as same-day surgery.
❑ Extracapsular cataract extraction removes the anterior lens capsule and cortex, leaving the posterior capsule intact. Typically, this is done using phacoemulsification equipment, which fragments the lens with ultrasound. The fragments are then removed by irrigation and aspiration. With this procedure, a posterior chamber intraocular lens is implanted where the patient’s own lens used to be. This procedure can be used with patients of all ages.
Some patients who have an extracapsular cataract extraction develop a secondary membrane in the posterior lens capsule (which has been left intact), which causes decreased visual acuity. But this membrane can be removed with a laser, which cuts an area out of the center of the membrane, thereby restoring vision. However, laser therapy alone can’t be used to remove a cataract.
❑ Intracapsular cataract extraction removes the entire lens within the intact capsule by cryoextraction (the moist lens sticks to an extremely cold metal probe for easy and safe removal with gentle traction).
Complications of surgery include the loss of vitreous (during surgery), wound dehiscence from loosening of sutures and flat anterior chamber or iris prolapse into the wound, hyphema, pupillary block glaucoma, retinal detachment, and infection.
A patient with an intraocular lens implant may experience improved vision almost immediately if the retina is intact. The implant usually corrects only for distance. To protect the eye postoperatively, some patients wear an eye patch for 6 to 8 hours, whereas others may wear a collagen shield (similar to a contact lens) that dissolves in 24 hours. The patient will then need either corrective reading glasses or a corrective contact lens, which will be fitted 4 to 8 weeks after surgery.
If no lens has been implanted, the patient may be given temporary aphakic cataract glasses; in about 4 to 8 weeks, he’ll be refracted for his own glasses.
Source: Handbook of Diseases, 2003
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