A retrospective study
"My grandfather is 95 and doesn’t wear any glasses”.
“When I have my cataracts done – I will be cured of needing glasses”
These are constant comments I get when I refer patients for cataract surgery.
In reality approximately 50% of people still opt to wear multifocal glasses post-surgery with only 4% achieving a “glasses free” target.
I decided to do a statistical retrospective analysis from 50 patients following bilateral cataract surgery, to help those heading toward cataract surgery manage their expectations of the final outcome.
The Results
46% of patients still wore multifocal glasses
32% of patients still wore reading glasses
Only 4% of patients wore no glasses
So why do patients still need spectacles?
In cataract surgery, the cloudy, natural lens is removed from the eye. A synthetic lens has to be implanted in the eye, to allow focused vision.
The main 2 types of optical designs of implanted lenses are:
1. MONOFOCAL SINGLE VISION LENSES
The most commonly used lenses, they focus the image at a set distance. The patient can choose either
a. Distance vision (requiring then reading glasses) or
b. Near vision (requiring then distance glasses)
c. Monovision (one eye for distance and one eye for near). This is not suitable for every patient and needs to be carefully considered.
2. MULTIFOCAL AND EXTENDED RANGE LENSES
These lenses are designed to allow focus over a range of distances and to minimise or eliminate the need for glasses after surgery. However, a small but significant percentage of patients complain of various optical aberrations and disturbances, which include halos around lights, glare and other optical problems.
The choice of the implanted lens is an individual choice and varies between different patients. Lifestyle, visual needs, optical history and constraints, visual expectations and other factors are key in the final decision of which implant to use and should be discussed with the surgeon prior to surgery to optimise the post refractive outcome