When people get older, their hair becomes gray. The same goes for the eyes. There is a structure in the eye like a camera lens called the lens, which becomes cloudy as we age, at which point the patient feels progressively more blurred vision, but no pain. This is medically called senile cataract. Geriatric cataracts are one of the important blinding eye diseases worldwide. Epidemiologists have found that 5.04% to 12.5% of blindness is caused by cataracts; and the prevalence of cataracts in people over 60 years of age is skyrocketing, with 100% of people over 80 years of age getting cataracts. With the increase of human life expectancy and the advent of an aging society, the prevalence of cataracts in China will increase accordingly. Cataracts will not only affect the vision and quality of life of elderly patients, but even lead to blindness, causing a great burden to society. Therefore, paying attention to the health of the elderly, especially the development of senile cataracts, is a major issue for the whole society. Since the exact cause of senile cataract is not yet known, there are no effective drugs worldwide to prevent and delay the occurrence and development of cataract, and surgical treatment is the only effective method. So, under what circumstances is it possible to receive cataract surgery? In the 1960s and 1970s, people believed that cataracts should be operated only when they have grown mature and the vision is gone. In recent years, with the development of science and technology and the application of microsurgery, the surgical treatment of cataract has made a great leap forward. Removing the cloudy lens and then implanting an artificial lens has become a conventional surgical method, especially the widespread development of cataract ultrasound emulsification surgery, which has brought cataract surgery into the era of minimally invasive surgery. Nowadays, ophthalmologists advocate cataract surgery not to wait until the mature stage, but to do it earlier. This is because the older the cataract grows, the greater the time and energy used for ultrasound emulsification, the greater the damage to the eye and the greater the risk of surgery. The general standard is that surgery can be done when the vision has decreased to less than 0.5. Certain patients with special requirements such as painters, photographers, drivers, etc. should also receive cataract surgery early, although their vision is above 0.5, but the degree of cataract has affected their daily behavior such as working, studying and driving cars. When doing surgery for senile cataracts, it is important to consider the whole body and the local condition of the eye. Because elderly people often have a variety of systemic chronic diseases, a careful systemic examination should be conducted. Surgery should be considered only when the systemic condition is good, heart function is basically normal, blood pressure and blood sugar are controlled within the roughly normal range, infected lesions are eliminated, and symptoms such as coughing and wheezing disappear. It is also required that the eyes are free of conjunctivitis, dacryocystitis and acute or severe fundus lesions, and that the visual function is basically normal. In addition to a rigorous general and ocular examination before surgery, the patient must be fully prepared psychologically. For example, they should really understand their condition, the general procedure of surgery and possible complications during and after surgery, and they should fully trust their surgeon. At present, the commonly used surgical procedures are: intracapsular extraction, extracapsular extraction, and ultrasonic emulsion aspiration. Intracapsular extraction has many long-term complications and is difficult to implant an IOL, and is now rarely used. With extracapsular extraction, an IOL can be implanted, but there are some complications that affect vision and are difficult to overcome completely. With ultrasonic emulsion aspiration, only a very small incision is needed to enter the eye, and ultrasonic shock is used to break up the hardened and cloudy lens and aspirate it out before implanting an IOL. The incision does not need to be sutured, and the postoperative reaction is mild and the complication rate is low. Therefore, ultrasonic emulsification aspiration is the most advanced surgical method at present. However, this procedure has to be combined with IOL implantation to enable rapid recovery of postoperative vision and the rapid establishment of binocular monocularity and stereo vision to achieve perfect results. Currently, cataract ultrasound emulsion aspiration combined with IOL implantation is very mature, but it still carries certain risks. The most difficult to salvage are expulsion hemorrhage and intraocular infection, once they occur, postoperative vision is difficult to recover. A few patients may have intraoperative rupture of the posterior lens capsule and incomplete removal of the lens cleanly, which may require a second surgery. Surgery may cause the nucleus or cortex of the lens to detach into the vitreous for various reasons, requiring further vitreous surgery or temporary observation. Although good visual recovery is obtained after surgery, more than 95% of children and 30% of adults can have vision loss due to posterior capsule clouding at various times after surgery, requiring laser or re-surgical treatment to incise the posterior capsule. Some patients may not be able to obtain the desired postoperative vision due to various fundus lesions. Many patients’ eyes are always dry after surgery, mainly due to the large amount of irrigation fluid constantly flushing the eye surface and destroying the tear film during the surgery. Some artificial tears are ordered in the early postoperative period to replace the treatment, which can generally be recovered about one month after surgery. Patients after cataract surgery may not adapt to the strong light at the beginning, so they can wear sunglasses to block the strong light and also to block the dust. The operated eye should be given antibiotic and hormonal eye drops for about 1 month to fight infection. You should also review the operated eye regularly. You should not use your eyes excessively in the early postoperative period, and try to avoid strenuous movements that may cause collisions with the operated eye to prevent the incision from splitting. Avoid spicy and irritating foods in the diet. After cataract surgery, most patients’ vision is improved and their quality of life is also improved. However, in today’s highly developed science and technology, the visual quality after surgery is widely concerned. Some patients have excellent postoperative distance vision, but have subjective discomfort such as poor visual clarity and poor vision in bright backgrounds or darker environments, which can be evaluated by a series of comprehensive indicators. In addition to the surgical equipment and surgical operation, the material, design and function of the IOL are crucial in determining the visual quality of the IOL eye. Therefore, in order to obtain better visual quality, it has become a trend to choose advanced surgical procedures and high-quality IOLs that can improve visual outcomes.