treatments
Surgery of cataract
DEFINItion
A cataract is a clouding of the lens, located inside the eye that changes shape to focus at near and far distances.
The lens is located behind the iris, the tissue that gives color to the eye.
When the lens, which under normal conditions is translucent, loses transparency and becomes opaque, it’s a cataract.
particularidades
In children younger than 2 years old with congenital cataract, intraocular lenses are not placed. This is because the eye is still growing, and therefore lens graduation will be incorrect after months.
Until it is time to replace the crystalline, the patient wears contact lenses.
After 2 years old, a new intervention for intraocular lens placement that is final is performed.
After congenital cataract surgery, visual rehabilitation should be performed, using eye patches over the good eye. This treatment is as important as the surgery itself.
Before cataract surgery, a test with the echometer should be performed, to determine the power of the lens to be used.
description
Cataract surgery is the removal of a lens called crystalline, which is within the eye and has been overshadowed.
This lens is replaced with another lens.
The operation is performed with ultrasound, using an instrument called phacoemulsifier.
In congenital cataract, the crystalline is extracted with an even smaller instrument in a procedure called vitrectomy.
Duration
Congenital cataract surgery takes about 20 minutes.
Postoperative
The postoperative period is not painful.
The day after surgery, the patient can perform normal activities, including bending and straining.
During the two weeks following surgery, the patient should only use eye drops.
Result expected
LCongenital cataract surgery is usually successful in 90% of cases. As always, the results depend on individual patients.