Loss of transparency of the crystalline lens of the eye is called a cataract. It can happen in any age like in children,adolescents and old age.
Most common cause of cataract is ageing process. Some drugs,trauma or injury, diabetes can also cause cataract formation.
1. Defective vision or blurring of vision is the most common symptom.
2. Glare or intolerance to bright light
3. Coloured halos
4. Frequent changes of glasses
There is no permanent cure of cataract except surgery. However in the early stage surgery can be delayed by giving a pair of glasses. Once it becomes operable stage and affects day to day activities,reading,writing,driving etc then surgery is indicated.We at Trilochan Netralaya provide two different options for cataract surgery. Those are small incision cataract surgery (SICS) and phacoemulsification (PHACO). In both the procedures cataractous lens is removed and an artificial lens (Intraocular Lens) is implanted inside the eye.We usually offer topical phaco which is done without anesthesia injection and hence it is absolutely painless with a speedy recovery rate.
In SICS 6-7mm long incision is made to remove the lens manually where as in PHACO a very small incision of around 2.5-3mm is made and ultrasonic energy is used to remove the lens. As in phaco wound is small there is faster wound healing and post op recovery as compared to SICS. But Phaco can not done in very hard cataract. So to enjoy the benefit of Phaco one should get operated before the cataract mature enough. Both the procedures can be done with and without anesthetic injection.
In SICS one has to wait for 15 days to one month to resume normal activity whereas in phaco one can do normal activities including head bath after 7days.
Post SICS eye usually requires small amount of spectacle power due to surgery induced astigmatism where as phaco surgery corrects almost 90-95% of distance vision. However one needs glasses for near vision after cataract surgery. But multifocal IOL addresses both distance and near vision and one can enjoy spectacle independence after cataract surgery.
We use unifocal,multifocal and toric IOL. Usually unifocal IOL corrects distance power of eye, so patient has to wear spectacle for the purpose of reading while multifocal IOL corrects power for both far,intermediate and near distance so that patient can enjoy spectacle free life post surgery. Toric IOL is meant for patients who already use astigmatism glasses before surgery and want to remove spectacle post surgery.
