Cataract Surgery

CATARACT

CATARACT

Any opacity in the lens or its capsule is called a cataract. However cataract is the opacity in lens preventing clear image formation on retina.

WHO/NPCB (National Programme for Control of Blindness) survey has shown that there is a backlog of over 22 million blind eyes (12 million blind people) in India, and 80.1% of these are blind due to cataract. The annual incidence of cataract blindness is about 3.8 million.

ETIOLOGY OF CATARACT
  • Senile
  • Congenital
  • Systemic diseases: Diabetes Mellitus, Galactosaemia, Hypoparathyroidism etc.
  • Trauma
  • Drug: Steroid
  • Toxic agents: Copper, Cigarette smoking etc.
  • Complicated cataract: (Cataract due other ocular disease) Iridocyclitis, Retinitis pigmentosa etc.
  • Radiation
  • Electric shock
SYMPTOMS
  • Blurring of vision/ diminution of vision
  • White or greyish opacity
  • Frequent changes of glass
  • Difficulty in bright light
  • Difficulty in night vision
  • Coloured haloes
  • Glare
  • Loss of contrast sensitivity
  • Myopic shift( increase of minus power in aged person)
TREATMENT

There is no medical treatment for cataract. Though, surgery (Cataract extraction & Intraocular lens implantation) is the only treatment, but in initial stages, refraction and adjustment of illumination helps.

TYPES OF SURGERY

Phacoemulsification with foldable IOL (Intra Ocular Lens) implantation is the choice of surgery. Manual small incision cataract surgery is also very popular surgery in India.

Laser Cataract Surgery: Femtosecond Laser is used to perform few steps of surgery in phacoemulsification.

FAQ