Cataracts rank first among the blindness-causing eye diseases in the world and are also the first blindness-causing eye disease in China. With the gradual aging of our society, there will be more and more cataract patients. The mainstream of modern cataract surgery is ultrasonic emulsification combined with IOL implantation, which is very popular among patients and doctors because of the small incision, fast recovery and no obvious pain during the surgery.
However, some patients say, “I just had a good vision after surgery, but after a few months, my vision gradually declined again”, thinking that the cataract has recurred again. In fact, this is not true. In the current cataract ultrasound emulsification surgery, the lens capsule is preserved to facilitate the implantation of an artificial lens. The so-called “recurrence” of cataract is actually a clouding of the preserved capsule, which is medically called “posterior cataract” and is not actually a recurrence of cataract. With the improvement of IOL design and surgical techniques, the incidence of posterior cataracts has been greatly reduced, and the incidence is reported to be about 30% within 2 years after adult cataract surgery. Once the posterior cataract occurs, there is no need to worry and stress too much, as it usually does not require another surgery, and usually only requires a laser shot at the eye clinic for 1-2 minutes, and costs only a few hundred dollars.
In fact, the occurrence of posterior cataracts after cataract surgery is not terrible. Refusing surgery because of the fear of “recurrence” has led to the loss of the appropriate time for surgical treatment, which is not desirable. If the economic and physical conditions allow, cataracts do not have to wait until they are completely invisible before going to the hospital for surgery. The longer the duration of cataract and the older the patient is, the harder the nucleus of the lens becomes, which undoubtedly increases the difficulty of surgery and makes it easier for complications to occur, thus greatly reducing the effectiveness of surgery. Therefore, patients diagnosed with cataracts need to go to the hospital regularly for checkups and choose the right time for surgery. Timely surgery will help to improve the patient’s vision and quality of life.