An Overview of Astigmatism Cataract Correction Surgery
Astigmatism cataract correction surgery is certainly an operation that will test the skill of any eye surgeon. Still, astigmatism has been corrected during cataract treatment with good results for the patient.
Astigmatism is a distortion of vision that’s caused because the shape of the eyeball is irregular. This causes light to bend incorrectly when it enters the eye. This is called a refractive error. Some people are simply born with this condition. A cataract is a painless clouding of the lens that most often happens as the person ages.
Before a patient is considered a good candidate for astigmatism cataract correction surgery, his or her ophthalmologist will need to take a medical history. It’s ideal if the patient is healthy, doesn't smoke and doesn't have pre-existing conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes or any other disorder of the eye.
Nowadays during cataract surgery, the surgeon removes the cloudy lens and inserts an intraocular lens that helps the patient see better. For astigmatism correction, the ophthalmologist inserts a special lens called a toric IOL. A surgeon needs to be experienced and highly skilled when implanting this type of lens as inserting it in the right way requires precision. The lens needs to be aligned perfectly with the patient's visual axis to make sure that the astigmatism is corrected.
Limbal relaxing incisions are another way for a surgeon to correct a patient’s astigmatism while they’re also having cataract surgery. Incisions are made at the edges of the cornea to correct the patient's vision. These are the same incisions that are used to remove the clouded lens during cataract treatment.
During astigmatism cataract correction surgery, one eye will be operated on at a time. After the surgery, a patch will be placed over the patient’s eye and he or she will be watched by the medical staff for a while to make sure that all is well. Since the surgery is usually an outpatient procedure, he or she can go home soon after. The patient will need someone to drive him or her home and probably stay with him or her for a day or two.
The patient will notice that his or her vision begins to improve after a few days. He or she will visit the doctor for a postoperative evaluation a couple of days after the surgery. The intraocular lens won’t be felt by the patient and should be considered permanent. The surgery should be completely healed within two months.
Medical experts have found that both limbal relaxing incisions and the implantation of toric intraocular lenses work very well for most patients who undergo astigmatism cataract correction surgery.
About the Author
The author of this article is medical student and he keeps on writing on various topics related to corrective eye surgery, Corrective Vision Surgery, intraocular lenses, lasik eye surgery cost, and many more.
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