Doctor Simón - Cataract Surgery - What's a cataract? - Diferent king of cataracts - Where is the cataract? - Need surgery? - Surgery with facoemulsificator

CATARACT SURGERY

A cataract is a clouding of the eye natural lens, the crystalline lens, the part of the eye responsible for focusing light and producing clear, sharp images at all distances. When the eye lens loses its transparency, images begin to look blurred or fuzzy.

Other not so frequent symptoms of cataracts are the gradual loss of definition in colours vision, poor night vision and easiness to read without glasses when they were necessary before.

Though for most people cataracts are a natural result of aging, eye injuries, certain medications, and diseases such as diabetes have also been known to cause them. Besides, some children may also have cataracts both inherited or associated to congenital alterations.

Gabriel Simon Institute has a unit dedicated to the treatment of cataracts with the most recent advances for the implantation of intraocular lenses. Through a 2'8 mm incision, the ophthalmologist breaks the cataract with an ultrasound probe and then sucks it out with the same probe. The surgery ends with the introduction of an artificial lens in the natural lens's capsule, behind the pupil.

This surgery, which is usually performed with topical anaesthesia (eye drops) and no stitches, allows a speedy visual recovery and the results improve the quality of life of the patient as he recovers his maximum keenness.

There is no need to become almost blind to have a cataract surgery. Cataracts should be removed as soon as vision is not adequate for daily activities. Refractive measurements are carried out so as to implant an intraocular lens with the desired correction, thus myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism can be corrected together with the removal of the cataract.

WHAT'S A CATARACT?

The Cataract is the loss of transparency of the intraocular lens.

		Healthy eye


		Eye with cataract


		Increase of the Volume


		Its function is to focus the near objets image on the Retina.

DIFERENT KIND OF CATARACTS

		Senile cataract


		Congenital Cataract


		Traumatic Cataract

WHERE IS THE CATARACT?

		It is composed by a nucleus and it is wrapped by the crystalline capsulle.


		The crystalline is a natural and transparent lens located in the eye It is composed by the capsulle C, lens E and nucleus N.

WHEN THE CATARACT IS GROWING, THE LENS LOOSES ITS TRANSPARENCY AND THIS AFECTS THE VISUAL ACUITY

		Normal image seen by somebody without cataract


		The same image seen with a cataract

DOES ANYTHING INCREASE THE EVOLUTION OF THIS CATARACT?

The first reason is age, it can also be because of high myopia, trauma, sun radiation...

Only big objets focus more or less correctly on the Retina (incipient cataract).

WHEN DOES A CATARACT NEED SURGERY?

WILL BOTH EYES BE DONE AT THE SAME TIME?

Both eyes have an interval of at least 1 week beetwen each other.

WHICH ANESTHESIA DOES IT NEED?

Topic anesthesia :
It only needs some drops on the surgery zone.

WILL I RECOVER A GOOD VISION?

		Intraocular lens


		For a good vision recuperation after surgery we use intraocular lenses. The intraocular lens corrects myopia and hyperopia power, but not astigmathism. The patient will need a near distance correction after surgery.

WHEN CAN I HAVE MY GRADUATION MADE?

		For a visual correction we will have to wait at least 3 or 4 weeks.

WHAT IS THE SURGERY ABOUT?

		Pupil is dilated.


		Pupil in midriasis Pupil is dilated to make surgery easier.


		We make a small hole on the lens capsulle.


		We rotate the lens to avoid the union that exists between them.

		We inject viscoelastic.

		Capsulorhexis

		Capsulorhexis A small hole is made on the capsulle. This way we can work on the crystalline easier.

		Hydrodisection We inject BSS to separate the nucleus from the cortex. see video

		Nucleus rotation We rotate the nucleus to separate it from the capsulle. see video

		Nucleus fragmentation see video

		Nucleus fragmentation Once used the facoemulsificator, we brake the nucleus.

		Crystalline absortion

SURGERY WITH FACOEMULSIFICATOR

		Surgery with facoemulsificator.


		Nucleus aspiration We break the nucleos previously divided in 4. see video


		Cortex aspiration We eliminate the crystalline leaving the cortex it completely clean. see video

FOLDING THE INTRAOCULAR LENS

		We use an injector to fold and inject the intraocular lens.


		Intraocular lens introcuction see video


		Injected Lens

		Lens implantation The lens is introduced in the capsulle.

		Injection of the IOL The IOL is introduced in tha capsulle.

		Position of the IOL

It is adviced to make surgery before the cataract develops too much. A matur cataract is harder and because of that, there is a higher probability of problems in surgery.
A matur cataract needs more time with the facoemulsificator to break it, this increases the vibration frequency during surgery.
A higher vibration makes surgery risky of having problems while surgery.