What is a cataract? Cataract: The clear lens of the eye becomes cloudy. Cataract in the clinical sense: The World Health Organization (WTO) defines a cloudy lens with corrected visual acuity of 0.5 or less as a cataract in the clinical sense from the perspective of prevention and treatment of blindness in the community.
Cataract: This is when the clear lens in the eye becomes cloudy.
Clinically significant cataract: The World Health Organization (WHO) defines a cloudy lens with corrected visual acuity of 0.5 or less as a clinically significant cataract from the perspective of prevention and treatment of blindness in the community.
What is a cataract?
Cataract is the world’s number one blindness-causing eye disease, and there are currently more than 5 million cataract patients in China, with nearly 2 million blind people in need of surgery.
What are the symptoms of cataract?
Cataracts can be asymptomatic at first, but as the disease develops, vision decreases and diplopia can also occur. In some cases, the original myopia deepens and the original farsightedness decreases (and in a few cases, there is a transient vision improvement), and as it develops, vision decreases and eventually leads to blindness.
What are the causes of cataract?
Age factor (gerontological cataracts are the most common)
Traumatic
Radiation
Complications
Congenital
Diabetic, etc.
What are the causes of cataracts?
The process of cataract formation may have multiple factors and the situation is quite complex.
The pathogenesis of common age-related cataracts is not yet fully understood.
What treatments are available for cataracts?
Drug treatment (the effect is not definite)
Surgical treatment (the only cataract treatment with proven effectiveness)
Cataract medication
The eye drops for cataract treatment are generally: Cataract, White Stop, Cure Cataract Ning, Glutathione, Carlin-U, Saprox, Cataract Dispersion, Musk Ball Bright Eye Solution, etc.
Vitamin C and E can be taken at regular intervals
Chinese medicine practitioners can treat early stage cataracts by taking Liu Wei Di Huang Wan, Qi Qi Ju Di Huang Wan, Dendrobium Luminosum Wan, and Tonic Zhong Yi Qi Wan according to the principle of evidence-based treatment.
Do all cataracts require surgery and what are the risks of not having surgery?
Surgery is the best way to treat cataracts at present. Mild cataracts that do not affect your life can be left untreated.
For some cataracts, it may cause complications, such as the expansion phase or overripe phase of senile cortical cataract, which may cause acute glaucoma attack or uveitis, resulting in eye pain and even permanent blindness in severe cases.
What are the common surgical methods for cataract?
Cataract extracapsular extraction combined with human lens implantation.
Cataract ultrasonic emulsion extraction combined with IOL implantation.
Extracapsular cataract extraction.
Modern microscopic extracapsular surgery for cataract is a proven and effective method of cataract surgery.
A larger surgical incision is required.
Postoperative corneal astigmatism may be greater.
Vision recovery time may be longer.
The cost is low and does not require particularly expensive machinery.
Good post-operative regain of vision with a low complication rate.
Cataract Ultrasonic Emulsion Extraction
The procedure uses an ultrasound emulsion machine to crush and aspirate the nucleus and cortex of the lens through a corneal or scleral incision of approximately 3 mm or less, preserving the posterior capsule of the lens so that a posterior chamber IOL can be implanted.
The surgical incision is small, the postoperative healing is fast, and the corneal astigmatism is small.
Early visual acuity can be obtained in a satisfactory manner.
High cost, machine dependent, and relatively more difficult to perform than extracapsular extraction.
Cataract ultrasonic emulsion extraction.
Which is the better procedure compared to the other?
Clinically, both ultrasonic cataract surgery and modern cataract extracapsular extraction are ideal cataract surgery methods as long as the indications are mastered and the surgical operation is proficient.
What tests should be done before cataract surgery?
In order to ensure the effectiveness of the surgery, adequate preoperative examinations are required before cataract surgery.
Eye examination and general examination
What tests are required before cataract surgery?
Eye examination generally includes visual acuity, visual function, intraocular pressure, fundus, tear duct, ultrasound and IOL calculation.
The whole body examination generally includes blood and urine routine, biochemistry, stop coagulation function, as well as blood pressure, electrocardiogram, chest X-ray and other examinations.
The purpose is to get a comprehensive understanding of the patient’s general condition, the presence of hypertension and diabetes and the extent of their conditions, and to understand their heart function and other conditions, and whether they are competent for cataract surgery.
What should patients do before cataract surgery?
It is also very important for patients to prepare for cataract surgery. In addition to cooperating with the surgeon for a series of eye and body examinations, it is extremely important to learn more about cataract and its surgery and to adjust the mindset.
Patients should pay attention to rest and adjust their diet before surgery, and those with systemic diseases (such as hypertension and diabetes) should be controlled smoothly under the guidance of internal medicine doctors. Except for pediatric general anesthesia surgery which requires 8 hours of fasting and drinking in advance, ordinary patients can eat and drink normally before surgery, but do not overeat.
Antimicrobial eye drops are routinely ordered before surgery.
What should patients do before cataract surgery?
Although most cataract surgeries have good results, the postoperative results are not the same for everyone due to the individual differences between people, especially the functional condition of the fundus, and the possibility of intraoperative complications. Therefore, patients and their families should fully understand the intraoperative and postoperative complications and possible abnormalities and cooperate with the surgeon.
What is an IOL? What kind of IOL should I choose?
Cataract patients usually have to have their cataract removed during surgery and then implanted with a material that has a similar function to the original lens to achieve the purpose of seeing light.
Most people think that the “most expensive” IOL is the “best” IOL
What kind of IOL should I choose?
The best IOL is the one that suits you best.
Cataract patients should discuss with their surgeon prior to surgery based on their financial level and work needs, and the surgeon will determine the right IOL for you based on your specific situation and eye examination.
You can also inform your surgeon of the price range of the IOL you need so that he or she can choose the right IOL within the range you have set
What type of IOL should I choose?
In rare cases, there may not be a suitable IOL within the patient’s chosen price range, so a comprehensive approach is needed to make the best choice
The outcome after cataract surgery depends on the condition of the fundus rather than the IOL.
What should I pay attention to after cataract surgery?
Use eye drops and eye ointment as prescribed by the doctor. Outpatient surgery patients must follow up the next day and have regular follow-ups.
Pay attention to eye protection, wear eye shields when sleeping to prevent accidental injury; do not rub your eyes with your hands or squeeze them hard to avoid wound cracking
To prevent violent head shaking, don’t lower your head for a long time; to prevent violent coughing; don’t do strenuous exercise or lift and carry heavy objects.
What should I pay attention to after cataract surgery?
Protect your eyes when washing your face and hair to prevent the entry of dirty water in your eyes.
Eat more vegetables and fruits and foods that are easy to digest and absorb to prevent constipation and dry stools.
If there is obvious eye redness, eye pain, sudden loss of vision and increased secretion, you should go to the hospital immediately for examination.
What are the results after cataract surgery?
The vast majority of cataract patients are able to achieve more satisfactory vision recovery and greatly improve their quality of life after surgery.
For patients with problems such as fundus lesions or optic nerve function, their post-operative vision recovery depends on the severity of the above diseases.
Cataract is like the lens of a camera. Surgery is equivalent to replacing a clear lens, but if the negative (fundus) is not good, the picture will not be clear either.
What are the results after cataract surgery?
Can cataracts be prevented?
Depending on the type of cataract, the prevention methods vary.
Developmental cataracts in children are completely preventable. During pregnancy, especially in the first 3 months of pregnancy, mothers should be careful against colds, fever, rubella, hives, etc. Once the disease develops, medication should be used under medical supervision to avoid damage to the fetus.
Daily attention should be paid to eye safety protection, prevention of mechanical and radiation damage, and avoidance of traumatic cataracts and radioactive cataracts Can cataracts be prevented?
Depending on the type of cataract, the prevention methods vary. Developmental cataracts in children are completely preventable. During pregnancy, especially in the first 3 months of pregnancy, the mother should be careful against colds, fever, rubella and urticaria, etc. Once the disease develops, medication should be used under medical supervision to avoid damage to the fetus.
Daily attention should be paid to eye safety protection, prevention of mechanical and radiation damage, and avoidance of traumatic cataracts and radioactive cataracts Can cataracts be prevented?
Patients with high blood sugar should actively control blood sugar to avoid diabetic cataracts.
Actively treat primary eye diseases such as uveitis to prevent the occurrence of concurrent cataracts.
The causes of senile cataracts are complex. Maintaining a healthy diet, a stable endocrine system, and reducing ultraviolet radiation may play a role.
Can cataracts be prevented?
Prevention of cataracts cannot depend on medications.
For early cataracts, as long as they do not affect life and care is taken, the efficacy of drug treatment is not yet exact.
Even if cataract is significantly aggravated and vision is significantly reduced, there is no need to be nervous. As long as the fundus function is normal, surgical treatment can still obtain satisfactory postoperative vision and restore normal quality of life.
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