Cataracts
A cataract is the natural clouding of the lens inside the eye. After the formation of a cataract, normal activities such as reading, gardening, golfing or driving can become difficult.
Common symptoms
- Blurred or distorted vision
- Increased glare
- Halos from bright light
- Loss of color perception
- Night blindness
- Double vision
- Eye fatigue and headaches
Treatment
Cataract surgery is one of the most frequently performed procedures in the United States and it is also one of the most successful. Nearly all of our cataract surgery patients regain youthful vision.
With the advanced microsurgical techniques at the Rand Eye Institute, our outpatient cataract surgery is performed at the highest level. Our patients return home shortly after the cataract has been removed, without a patch on the operated eye. This allows our patients an almost immediate return to their regular lifestyles.
During surgery, the cloudy lens is removed and replaced with a clear, synthetic lens called an intraocular lens (IOL). Without this lens, a post-cataract patient would need to wear very strong glasses or contact lenses. The intraocular lens will last a lifetime and require no care by the patient.
Rand-Stein Analgesia Protocol
One major innovation in cataract surgery is the Rand-Stein Analgesia Protocol (as published in the May 2000 issue of Ophthalmology). Developed at the Rand Eye Institute, the Rand-Stein Analgesia Protocol eliminates the need for local anesthetic injections and reduces the risk of damage that these injections could cause to the eye. All medications used in the protocol are FDA-approved, and comes as an important advancement in cataract surgery, which has been studied by thousands of eye surgeons worldwide.