Cataract Surgery
In cataract surgery, an eye doctor (ophthalmologist) removes the clouded lens from your eye and, in most cases, replaces the lens with an artificial lens. Cataract surgery is usually successful — more than 90 percent of people who have a cataract removed enjoy improved vision after the procedure!
Why it’s done?
If a cataract is making it difficult for you to carry out your normal activities, your doctor may suggest cataract surgery. Even if your visual acuity isn’t severely affected, you might want cataract surgery to remove a cataract that’s causing problems with glare or double vision.
When a cataract interferes with the treatment of another eye problem, such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy or retinal detachment, prompt cataract removal also may be advisable. In younger people or people with diabetes, cataracts may progress rapidly, making the need for surgery more urgent.
In most cases, waiting to have surgery won’t harm your eye, so you have time to consider your options. If your vision is still quite good, you may not need cataract surgery for many years, if ever. Approach the decision with these questions in mind:
* Can you see to do your job and drive safely?
* Do you have problems reading or watching television?
* Is it difficult to cook, shop, do yardwork, climb stairs or take medications?
* Do vision problems affect your level of independence?
Results
Cataract surgery successfully restores vision in the majority of people who have the procedure done.
Months to years after cataract surgery, you have a 25 percent risk of developing a condition known as posterior capsule opacification (PCO), or second cataract. This happens when the back of the lens capsule — the part of the lens that wasn’t removed during surgery and that now supports the lens implant — becomes cloudy and impairs your vision. The gradual clouding is the result of cell growth on the back of the capsule.
To treat PCO, you need a painless, five-minute outpatient procedure called YAG (yttrium-aluminum-garnet) laser capsulotomy. In YAG laser capsulotomy, a laser beam is used to make a small opening in the clouded capsule to let light pass through.
After the procedure, you typically stay in the doctor’s office for about an hour to make sure your eye pressure doesn’t increase — a potential complication if you have glaucoma or are extremely nearsighted. Other complications are rare but can include swelling of the macula and retinal detachment.
Source, MayoClinic.com