Cataract Overview

Basic Cataract Surgery, considered one of the safest and most successful procedures performed today, has advanced dramatically over the past few decades with nearly three million surgeries performed annually. During Basic Cataract Surgery, the doctor uses a blade to make a microscopic incision on the cornea. The cloudy, natural lens is removed and a clear, basic intraocular lens (IOL) is inserted to replace it.

While Basic Cataract Surgery will alleviate the blurry vision and glare caused by cataracts, it will not address other eyesight issues such as astigmatism or the need for reading glasses. Most patients will still need prescription eyeglasses for many daily activities.

Medicare and most private insurances cover this procedure. Insurance co-pays and deductibles still apply.

Custom Cataract Surgery combines the precision of the laser with the ability to correct for astigmatism to help the great majority of cataract patients eliminate their need for glasses for distance vision.

Using the LenSx® Custom Cataract Laser, the first FDA-approved laser for the treatment of cataracts with astigmatism, our surgeons create incisions to treat both cataracts and astigmatism with a laser instead of a blade. Astigmatism is an extremely common condition in which the clear, front part of the eye is shaped like a cylinder instead of a sphere, resulting in blurry vision. In fact, studies have shown up to 75% of patients have significant astigmatism; these patients could benefit greatly from laser cataract surgery. The laser also enables our doctors to customize your procedure to your eye’s unique characteristics, resulting in potentially better visual outcomes and more reproducible results.

Sometimes patients have too much astigmatism for the laser to correct in its entirety. In this case, our surgeons still rely on the precision of the laser to make incisions to remove the cataract and to help properly align the new intraocular lens, while fine-tuning the astigmatism correction. However, instead of implanting a basic lens, the doctor will insert a toric IOL, a specialty lens designed to correct higher amounts of astigmatism. By correcting both the cataract and astigmatism with the toric lens, many patients will enjoy sharp distance vision without glasses, though most will still need reading glasses.

Custom Cataract Laser Surgery generally enables patients to achieve better quality vision, without glasses, than Basic Cataract Surgery.

While many patients will still need reading glasses after surgery, the relative freedom from glasses for other activities, coupled with the precision and predictability of the laser, has made Custom Cataract Laser Surgery one of the fastest growing eye procedures available.

If you’ve always dreamed of turning back the clock and reducing or eliminating your dependence on glasses or bifocals, Lifestyle Cataract Surgery may be for you. As with Custom Cataract Surgery, our doctors will use the LenSx® Custom Cataract Laser to make incisions and eliminate any astigmatism you may have during cataract surgery. Instead of inserting a basic IOL, however, our doctors will implant a special “multifocal” or “accommodative” lens.

This lens mimics a young eye’s lens in that it can simultaneously focus at distance and near. This flexibility provides the greatest range of vision possible, enabling most patients to significantly reduce their need for glasses for near and distance vision after surgery. Most patients who choose to undergo Lifestyle Cataract Surgery can read and do other close work without reading glasses after the procedure, although some people may still need mild reading glasses for reading very small print or doing fine work.

If you are exploring lifestyle cataract treatment options, the AcrySof IQ PanOptix® IOL may be the right choice for you. PanOptix® IOL is the next-generation trifocal lens designed to provide you with clear vision for near (40 cm), intermediate (60 cm), and far distances without glasses. Click here to learn more about PanOptix® IOL.

Exciting advances in cataract surgery technology give the doctors at Eye Surgeons the ability to further customize your vision in the operating room after your IOL has been implanted. Optiwave Refractive Analysis, or ORA, is a new cataract surgery measurement tool that helps refine and enhance vision during cataract surgery so that patients achieve their best postoperative vision.

With the ORA intraoperative aberrometry system, surgeons can determine in real-time the eye’s refraction, or visual measurement. This measurement occurs when your cataract surgery has been completed, but before you leave the operating room. The ORA system allows our surgeons to immediately make any necessary surgical adjustments to the IOL to help ensure the best possible visual outcome for patients.

All Custom and Lifestyle Cataract procedures include ORA as part of the surgical process to ensure proper IOL selection and refraction. However, cataract surgery patients electing to undergo Basic Cataract Surgery may wish to consider ORA as well. Please ask your doctor about using ORA during your cataract surgery.

There are expenses associated with ORA that are not covered by Medicare or insurance companies. Please speak with one of our Cataract Counselors for more information.