When a patient has to have a cataract removed, it is done through surgery. Cataract surgery involves removing the natural lens and replacing it with an intraocular lens (IOL). Because numbing eyedrops are used, the patient won’t feel anything. And due to advances in technology, the incision made in the eye to remove the lens and replace it with an IOL is extremely small. The incision allows for quicker recovery and a much faster return to better vision.
The incision made in the eye is only about 2.8mm big. After the incision is made in the eye using a process called phacoemulsification, ultrasound technology is used to break up the natural lens where the cataract is. The cataract is then aspirated from the eye through the tip of the inserted probe. The IOL can then be inserted through the incision and implanted in the eye.
Traditional cataract surgery requires a larger incision that may require several stitches to close. The benefit of using phacoemulsification is that it does not require sutures. The natural pressure of the eye will keep the incision closed while it is healing. In this way, healing begins as soon as the cataract surgery ends.
Benefits
- Quicker recovery
- Quicker return to better vision – days rather than weeks or months
- Patient may return home within hours of the cataract surgery
- Reduced chance of surgically induced astigmatism or suture rupture
- Less chance of leakage
Not all cataract surgical patients are candidates for small incision surgery. If your cataract has been growing in your eye for a long period of time, traditional cataract surgery may be the route your cataract surgeon chooses.
If you are interested in finding out more about small incision cataract surgery in the Monmouth and Ocean County, New Jersey areas, please contact the experienced cataract surgeons at Susskind & Almallah Eye Associates, P.A. They will answer all of your cataract surgery questions in an initial consultation.