Preparing for Your Surgery « Anderson Eye Surgery

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Preparing for Your Surgery

Cataract Surgery

Cataract surgery is a day surgery that is done at Langley Memorial Hospital or the private surgical facility Langley Surgical Centre. The surgery itself only takes about 15 minutes to complete and you are awake for the procedure. For freezing the eye we use both a gel and drop form of topical anesthetic and the eye is generally completely comfortable throughout the course of the procedure. The cataract is a cloudy lens so the surgery involves removing the lens from the eye and replacing it with a new clear lens. The lens is divided into three different portions, the center part called the nucleus, the outer part called the cortex, and surrounding both these portions is a thin transparent membrane called the lens capsule. The inner nuclear part is actually denser than the outer soft cortical part.

Cataract Removal

In order to remove the cataract a circular hole in the lens capsule is created to access the cloudy cataract lens. Following this the latest in phacoemulsification (ultrasound technology) combined with Ozil technology is used to break up the hard nuclear portion of the lens. Which is then suctioned completely out of the eye. Then an irrigation, aspiration instrument (much like a vacuum) is used to vacuum out the soft cortex and polish the transparent capsule. Once the cataract is completely removed a clear gel is injected into the eye and the foldable intraocular lens is inserted. Prior to leaving a clear shield is placed over the eye, which you must wear while you sleep for the first week following the surgery. In addition to this you will be given easy to understand instructions to instill your drops postoperatively.

Pre-Surgery Testing

When you are booked for cataract surgery, you will be asked to return to Dr. Anderson’s office for some pre-operative testing. These tests include a visual field, OCT, and A-scan. The A-scan test helps Dr. Anderson calculate the power of the lens that will inserted into your eye at the time of surgery.

Information Sheet for the Visual Field & OCT Tests