Cataracts are a common cause of visual impairment. A cataract occurs when the lens inside the eye becomes cloudy, resulting in common symptoms such as blurring of vision, difficulty with glare when night driving and difficulty with reading. Cataracts most commonly occur as a consequence of age-related degeneration, particularly from 40 years onwards, although medications, injuries, effects of retinal/vitreous surgery and also illnesses such as diabetes can cause cataracts to develop sooner.
If the cataract is not significantly developed, and not hugely impacting the patient’s vision and day to day life, then the change in vision can sometimes be partially corrected with glasses. However, once the cataract is significantly developed and causing the patient unwanted symptoms, then surgery is the best treatment option.
Prior to surgery, patients will be required to have a pre-surgery appointment with their doctor and our orthoptists. At this appointment, our orthoptists will conduct important measurements of the eyes (biometry). These measurements provide the doctors with information to determine which lens is most suitable. Patients will also be provided with the necessary information related to their specific condition, operation and hospital admission.
Cataract surgery is very common and is usually carried out as a day procedure in hospital, under local anaesthetic. The operation involves removing the cloudy lens using a small incision phacoemulsification (ultrasonic) technique and replacing it with an artificial lens. The operation takes between 15-30 minutes to perform, with an additional one-hour pre-surgery anaesthetic time. Most patients can be discharged from hospital the same day. The doctors then review the patients post operatively, usually at one day, one week, and four weeks at Waverley Eye Clinic.
During the postoperative period, antibiotic and steroid (anti-inflammatory) drops are applied several times per day to aid healing and reduce risk of infection and inflammation. The surgery and post-operative period are generally comfortable with minimal pain, although patients may experience symptoms such as light sensitivity, glare, halos around lights, slight irritation and slight blurring of vision. The doctor will thoroughly discuss post-operative visual outcomes and lens options with patients prior to surgery.
The surgeons consulting at Waverley Eye Clinic have an extremely high success rate with excellent post-operative patient satisfaction.
Surgery is performed by the attending surgeons at the following locations: