Cataract patients experience increasing discomfort that initially manifests in everyday life situations that require good vision, driving at night, reading small print, sewing, etc. The decline in visual acuity makes it difficult to read road signs, text banners on television, subtitles in cinemas, etc. Performing sports like golf, tennis becomes difficult and performance drops. Stopping driving at night is often necessary from a certain stage of cataract. Gradually, the discomfort increases to become permanent. The more advanced the cataract, the more of your activities could be reduced.

Do not delay cataract surgery if your visual impairment is significant. The cataract evolves gradually towards the complete opacification of the lens and at the very advanced stages of cataract. Your vision could then be reduced to the simple perception of light.

You will need cataract surgery when your visual quality decreases and discomfort your daily activities such as driving or reading. It is important to consider cataract surgery whenever you experience blurry vision even with glasses.

Blindness caused by cataract can be reversible thanks to surgery. Surgery restores the transparency by replacing the natural lens by an artificial intraocular lens. It is therefore never too late to have an operation, but operations carried out at very advanced stages are longer and more difficult.

Operating on a very hard and opacified lens increases the risk of certain intraoperative complications and can affect certain other ocular tissues such as the cornea.

While waiting for surgery, equip yourself with corrective glasses. In parallel, use vision aid systems like good lighting, or magnifying glasses.

Surgery restores ocular transparency and cataract-related symptoms such as glares and impression of visual fog disappear. Colors become more vivid and saturated. Bright lights are sharper and there is no longer a "dirty" feeling of vision. The luminous halos around lights at night disappear or are considerably reduced. It becomes possible again to read small print up close, street names and subtitles from afar.

Improved vision helps regain confidence in driving, especially at night, as well as practicing sports or leisure activities that require good vision. It is easier to travel when you can easily read electronic signs and directions in train stations and airports, and your book or tablet during transport.

The technological progresses made in the intraocular lenses design and manufacturing now makes possible to correct many visual impairments such as myopia, hyperopia, presbyopia, and astigmatism. Thanks to these new technologies, you could even reduce the burden of your glasses at all distances. It could be possible to reduce or even eliminate your need for glasses or contact lenses according to your wishes and expectations.

The use of microsurgery techniques makes this surgery a minimally invasive act. The intervention is performed through a small incision (about 2.2mm) that does not need to be sutured because its small size gives it self-sealing. This results in rapid visual recovery and the absence of pain, as well as the possibility of resuming a normal life very quickly, generally after two or three days.

The satisfaction rate after cataract surgery is very high, because the procedure is performed in less than 15 minutes under local anesthesia. This anesthesia is most often reduced to the instillation of anesthetic eye drops, but it can be supplemented by a local injection and the taking of sedatives in certain cases.

Before surgery, the surgeon will disinfect the eye to be operated on and administer a local anesthetic. The surgery takes between 10 and 15 minutes. Once completed, the eye will be covered with a protective cover. After a short rest, you can return home. Since you cannot drive afterwards, someone must accompany you on the day of surgery.

The day after the procedure, the operated eye will be checked. Your ophthalmologist will explain the post-operative medical treatment to you.

Usually, a local (topical) anesthetic, consisting of eye drops, is used. In some cases, it can be combined with a mild sedative. Another option is general anesthesia (recommended for children, nervous people, or people with specific pathologies).

A micro incision is performed into your eye. The lens is then removed with a technique of phaco emulsification. The natural lens is fragmented then extracted through the micro incision.

The purpose of the surgery is to replace the lens that has become opaque (cataract) or a clear lens (simple presbyopia) with a transparent artificial implant in the following manner:

Your choice of lens will depend on your expectations. Adequate care is not only based on technical expertise but on understanding your expectations in terms of postoperative optical correction. Your practitioner will have to find the best match between your wishes and what can be corrected in your case, through the selection of the most suitable intraocular lens.

If you need more information, contact your eye doctor.

He will be the most suited to guide you on your journey to recover your vision.

Do you need more information?

This brochure will explain you the different available IOL to help you recover your vision