Cataract Surgery

Your surgeon will make a small incision at or near your cornea and insert an instrument about the size of a pen tip to break up and remove the cloudy lens. Once the natural lens is removed, the IOL is inserted through the same incision and set into its permanent position.

Cataract surgery is considered one of the safest and most effective medical procedures. More than 3 million cataract surgeries are performed each year in the United States alone. But not every cataract surgery is the same. Your eye doctor may choose one of these options for removing your cataract:

Phacoemulsification

This technique is the most advanced and most commonly used. It requires a very small incision on the side of the cornea (an eighth of an inch or smaller). Because of the size and location of the incision, stitches are rarely needed, and the eye heals rapidly. Of patients who undergo phacoemulsification, more than 97 percent experience no complications.

Extracapsular Cataract Surgery

This type of surgery, which usually takes place outside the U.S., is used for very dense or rigid IOLs, It requires a larger incision and stitches are needed, so it takes longer for the eye to heal. More than 90 percent of patients who receive this type of procedure see 20/40 or better.