Cataract Surgery
Cataract surgery involves the surgical removal of a lens of an eye which has formed a cataract. Cataract extraction is the one of the most common eye surgery performed and is widely regarded as being one of the safest procedures in the medical community. A cataract happens when the crystalline lens of the eye becomes cloudy or opaque as a result of age, illness, or trauma. This cloudiness can meddle with the eye’s natural capability to direct light and focus an image on the retina. As a result, people with cataracts often experience a loss of vision.
There is no known way to reverse the damage due to cataracts, though the entire removal and replacement of the affected lens with a synthetic lens can restore an individual’s vision. The 2 most common procedures for cataract extraction are called ICCE ( intracapsular cataract extraction) and ECCE ( extracapsular cataract extraction ). Both these procedures are usually done under a local anesthetic on an out-patient basis, so cataract surgery patients are free to go home the same day.
Extra-capsular surgery involves the removal of the affected lens while leaving the bulk of the elastic lens capsule intact. This allows for the direct implantation of an intraocular lens into the lens capsule. Extracapsular surgery may be performed using one of two techniques : conventional ECCE and phacoemulsification. Conventional ECCE involves making a tiny incision into the cornea or the sclera of the eye. The cataract is then manually removed through the incision, so that a replacement intraocular lens can be inserted.
Typical ECCE is best suited for those patients who suffer from extraordinarily hard cataracts or who have got a feeble or thin epithelium covering the cornea. The second strategy, phacoemulsification, employs an ultrasonic handpiece. Ultrasound waves vibrated the cataract, making it crack and break up into a number of little pieces. These pieces are then removed through aspiration thru a little incision in the cornea, after which a replacement intraocular lens can be inserted. Phacoemulsification uses a way smaller incision and might not need stitches, with the result that this procedure regularly affords patients a shorter recovery period.
Intra-capsular surgery involves the removal of the whole lens of the eye including the lens capsule. This process was standard up till the 1980’s in the united states, but is rarely performed in modern medicine thanks to the medical advances in cataract surgery. To remove the lens, the surgeon makes a large incision in the cornea and injects medication into the eye. This causes the zonular fibers that hold the lens in position to break apart and melt. A little probe is inserted into the incision and placed on the lens to that it could be frozen via a cryogenic solution, such as liquid nitrogen. The probe is then withdrawn from the eye, pulling with it the frozen lens. Once the influenced lens has been removed, an intraocular lens implant may be inserted in front of the iris as a replacement. Eventually the incision is stitched up.
Intra-capsular surgery has a high chance of complications because of the pressure that is placed on the vitreous body of the eye during the process. Patients have a prolonged period of healing ( up to 6 weeks ), and are at a high risk for retinal detachment and swelling of the eye. It is for this reason, that virtually all modern cataract extractions are performed thru the extracapsular surgery methodology.
