Cataract Surgery

Cataracts are a common eye problem (most often associated with aging) that cause the natural lens inside the eye to become cloudy. In patients who fail to receive treatment, cataracts can make reading, driving, and other daily activities more challenging, and in more severe cases it can cause a patient to lose his vision.  Typical symptoms of cataract formation include glare with night time driving, blurred vision that cannot be corrected with glasses or contact lenses, difficulty seeing street signs or the captions on television and needing more light for reading.  Cataracts are a normal aging event for the body, and everyone eventually develops some level of cataract if they live long enough.  Cataracts can also develop at a younger age, and are just as easily fixed as if they occur at an older age.

 

Cataract surgery involves removal of the cloudy or dysfunctional natural lens, and replacement of that lens with an artificial lens.  Recent dramatic advances in technology have improved the results of cataract surgery, such that not only is the cloudy lens removed and replaced, but many patients elect to have Refractive Cataract Surgery performed to reduce or potentially eliminate dependence on glasses.  If a patient is not interested in reducing dependence on glasses after cataract surgery, they will still typically achieve excellent vision with standard cataract surgery with a standard lens, but will need glasses to get their best possible vision.

 

Cataract surgery is considered very successful with a low complication rate of around two percent. About 1.5 million cataract surgeries are performed yearly in the United States.Dr. Peter Cornell and Dr. Stuart Stoll perform cataract surgery at their Beverly Hills practice using the most modern techniques, such as phacoemulsification (ultrasound to break up the cataract). Phacoemulsification involves making a small incision in the peripheral cornea so that a foldable intraocular lens implant can be inserted. Each patient is required to have a full comprehensive ophthalmologic examination and consultation to determine if they need cataract surgery, and if so, which approach is best for them. Often, cataract surgery can be performed in 10 to 20 minutes at Specialty Surgical Center, located just down the street from our Beverly Hills practice. The surgery is an outpatient procedure; however, the patient must stay in the surgery center for approximately three hours. Cataract surgery is usually performed using topical anesthesia (eyedrops) with most patients experiencing minimal discomfort. Almost all of the cataract surgeries are performed at the Specialty Surgical Center, an excellent, freestanding surgical center located one block from our office. Most patients have relatively minimal restrictions after the cataract surgery.

 

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