Cataracts are some of the most common eye ailments and affect millions of people all over the globe, especially older folks. For many years, cataracts were treated through traditional surgery, which involves making an incision in the cornea to remove the clouded lens. This treatment is still used to help many cataract patients today.
In recent years, technological advancements in medicine laser allowed a new type of cataract surgery to blossom: laser surgery. This type of blade-free cataract surgery is becoming more and more widely used, and it has several advantages. With that being said, traditional cataract surgery is still performed frequently and is a perfectly safe and viable procedure.
Let’s learn more about what cataracts are and about each type of treatment. Then, we’ll discuss the similarities and differences between traditional and laser cataract surgery to help you decide which method is right for you.
What are Cataracts?
The eye has a lens that helps focus light upon the back of the eye, which sends that signal to the brain for processing. This is the way that our eyes transmit an image to our brain. A cataract occurs when the lens of the eye becomes cloudy, opaque, or discolored. To a person with cataracts, the effect is similar to looking out of a cloudy window. Other symptoms include:
· Seeing halos around lights
· Sensitivity to light or glare
· Poor night vision
· Seeing colors as faded or washed-out
· Double vision
The leading cause of cataracts is simple aging – over time, it’s common for the lens of the eye to get clouded. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), about two in three Americans over the age of 80, and about 30 million Americans in total, have cataracts. There are other possible causes of cataracts, however, including steroid use, eye injury, and exposure to ultraviolet light. Additionally, certain diseases such as diabetes make the development of cataracts more likely. In fact, people over 65 with diabetes are twice as likely to develop cataracts as people of the same age who don’t have diabetes, according to Medical News Today.
How Are Cataracts Treated?
In some cases, treatment for cataracts isn’t necessary, particularly if the problem is only minor and the individual can still go about their daily life without much impairment. But the problem is likely to grow over time, eventually clouding more and more of the eye and affecting vision. If cataracts are left untreated, they can obscure the entire field of vision and cause complete blindness.
Eventually, cataracts will require treatment. And unfortunately, it’s not as simple as taking a pill or putting medicated eye drops into your eyes. Surgery is the best option for removing clouded lenses entirely and helping a patient get back to normal vision. There are two options: traditional cataract surgery and laser-assisted cataract surgery.
Types of Cataract Surgery: Traditional vs. Laser-Assisted
What does traditional cataract surgery involve? How about laser-assisted surgery? Let’s take a closer look at each of these types of cataract surgery options.
Traditional Cataract Surgery
Traditional surgery to remove a cataract involves using a blade to make a tiny incision on the side of the cornea (the lens) and removing the cataract-clouded lens. Then, an artificial lens known as an intraocular lens is inserted to replace the natural lens. Sutures may be used to close the incision, but it’s more common for the incision to be left to heal on its own over time.
How Long Does Traditional Cataract Surgery Take?
Traditional cataract surgery is a very quick procedure – the actual removal of the cataract-clouded lens only takes about 20 minutes or so. And the recovery period is relatively fast, too. Most people are fully healed and back to normal activities within a few days or weeks.
What is Laser-Assisted Cataract Surgery?
Laser surgery to remove a cataract lens utilizes laser technology and 3D imaging. The first step involves the surgeon creating a customized digital plan for the cataract surgery using 3D imaging of the patient’s eye. The process is “mapped” precisely ahead of time.
The procedure involves using an advanced type of laser known as a femtosecond laser to create an opening in the front layer of the lens. The laser breaks up the cloudy lens, and then the lens is suctioned out through small incisions in the patient’s cornea. Next, an intraocular lens replaces the natural lens, just like in traditional cataract surgery.
Differences Between Traditional Cataract Surgery and Laser Cataract Surgery
The result of traditional and laser cataract surgery is the same: removal of the clouded lens and replacement with an artificial one. But there are clear differences between the procedures.
Tools Used
One big difference between these two procedures is in the tools used. With traditional cataract surgery, manual instruments are used – a blade to make an incision in the cornea, and forceps or a suction tool
to remove the lens. In laser surgery, no blades or instruments are used at all. The laser itself makes the incisions and breaks up the clouded lens.
The use of fewer tools in laser cataract surgery adds to the overall safety of the procedure, and many steps in the process are automated and computer-controlled which reduces the risk of complications even further. However, traditional cataract surgery is still a very safe procedure with an extremely low risk of complications or side effects.
Accuracy
Laser cataract surgery uses 3D imaging to create a customized plan for a patient’s cataract removal. And the laser itself allows for very precise incisions and movements. In this way, laser eye surgery for cataracts is overall more accurate and precise than traditional cataract surgery.
Similarities with Traditional and Laser Cataract Surgery
As different as these two types of procedures are, they also share plenty of similarities. Namely, the two types of cataract surgery last the same length of time and are equally safe.
Duration
Whether a surgeon is using manual tools or being assisted by a laser, traditional and laser cataract surgeries are very quick procedures. The removal of the cloudy lens only takes a few minutes – 10 to 20 minutes is the average time, although it can take longer depending on the severity of the cataracts.
Safety
Both types of cataract surgery are extremely safe. It’s one of the most common medical procedures performed by ophthalmologists and eye surgeons. And the procedure is highly effective – according to UCI Health, the success rate is 99 percent.
Schedule a Consultation with the Ophthalmologists at ECVA to Determine Which Cataract Treatment is Right for You
Which cataract treatment is right for you? That depends on the severity of your cataracts, your health history and previous eye surgeries you may have undergone, and the advice of your ophthalmologist and other eye-care professionals. Both types of cataract surgery are used frequently – laser eye surgery for cataracts is generally more precise and may help lessen recovery time, but traditional cataract surgery is a perfectly viable procedure as well.
In the early stages of cataracts, treatment might not be necessary at all. Some patients are aided by different eyeglasses, magnifying glasses, or different and/or stronger lighting. But eventually, cataracts will get worse and start to affect eyesight. At that point or whenever cataracts start to affect a person’s ability to perform normal activities, surgery is usually recommended.
Looking for cataract removal in Buffalo, NY?
If you have signs or symptoms of cataracts, or if you’d like to learn more about this condition and the treatment options available, ECVA can help. The safety and health of our patients’ eyes are our top priority – schedule an appointment at the nearest ECVA clinic today.
