Cataract is the leading cause of blindness in the world, responsible for 48% of cases, most related to age and therefore there is no way to prevent its appearance. Taking into account the progressive aging of the population, its prevalence and importance as a public health problem will undoubtedly be maintained over time. With advances in the preoperative study, anesthesia, instruments, intraocular lens technology and in the phacoemulsification technique, surgery has gone from being a procedure focused on the safe extraction of the cataract, to one that aims to achieve the best result refractive possible, ideally freeing the patient from the use of glasses and with a very short recovery time.
The importance of early detection
It is essential to bear in mind that if the cataract is not removed in a reasonable time, it hardens, making it difficult to remove as time passes. When the operation is delayed, the intervention is complicated and the result obtained is not always as satisfactory, as is usually the case when intervening at an earlier stage of evolution of this pathology.
Surgery as the only treatment
When a cataract causes bothersome vision problems and interferes with daily activities, the ophthalmologist should prescribe treatment, which consists of surgery to remove the cataract. Through this intervention, the natural opaque or opaque crystalline lens is removed and replaced by an artificial implant called an intraocular lens (IOL). Surgery is the only effective treatment to solve this eye problem, because there are no medications or eye drops that make cataracts disappear.
In each particular case, the kraff eye institute ophthalmologist will explain the Cataract Surgery procedure, the preparation and postoperative recovery, the benefits and possible complications of the surgery.
The most common technique is phacoemulsification. This consists of making a small incision on the edge of the cornea, through which a small instrument is inserted that uses high-frequency ultrasound to break the center of the cloudy lens and carefully suction it.
After the cataract has been removed, the surgeon will replace it with the IOL, which will allow light to pass through the retina and focus properly.
