Cataract Surgery
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When your cataract starts to interfere with your daily life, it may be time to consider cataract surgery. At UVA Health, our skilled eye surgeons offer safe, effective treatment using the latest tools. Our advanced techniques help you get back to seeing clearly and living fully.
When to Consider Cataract Surgery
You may need surgery if:
- Your vision is blurry most of the time
- You have trouble reading or driving
- Glare or halos around lights make it hard to see
- Glasses or contacts no longer help
We recommend surgery when the cataract starts to affect your quality of life.
How Cataract Surgery Works
Cataract surgery removes the cloudy lens and replaces it with a clear, artificial lens called an intraocular lens or IOL.
There are different ways to do the procedure, but the most common is phacoemulsification. We make a tiny cut in your eye and use ultrasound waves to break up and remove the cataract. We then place the artificial lens.
In some cases, we may need to do extracapsular cataract extraction. We use this option when your cataract is too dense or hard to remove with ultrasound. This is more common when your cataract is very advanced. During this procedure, we make a larger incision and remove the cataract in one piece.
Cataract Surgery Recovery
After surgery, you’ll rest for a short time and go home the same day. Most people see better within a few days. Full cataract surgery recovery can take a few weeks.
During recovery:
- Use eye drops as prescribed
- Avoid rubbing or pressing on your eye
- Wear sunglasses outdoors
- Don’t lift heavy objects or do strenuous activity until the team says it’s okay
Your vision may be blurry at first, but it should get sharper as your eye heals.
Kelly Burke's Cataract Surgery Story
With support from her sister, Kelly Burke came to UVA Health needing a challenging cataract surgery. Ophthalmologist Albert Jun, MD, was up for that challenge.
Donna: There's five years difference between Kelly and I. She was one pound, 14 ounces when she was born. When she would walk into a room, the room would light up. She's truly a joy to have around. So when she turned 18, she moved out to Colorado, up into the mountains, and we kind of just went on with our lives. They didn't know how to deal with her out in Colorado. They really didn’t. When she came to live with me in January of 2022, she was malnourished at that point, and she had lost her sight about three years before that.
Dr Jun: So Kelly came in with a very difficult eye condition. She was completely blind in one eye. She could not walk around. She could not feed herself. She really couldn't see anything other than just the presence or absence of light. We could not see in her eye to do a full eye exam, so we had to use specialized ultrasound techniques to measure the size of the cataract, to measure the size of her eye, just to know that the dimensions would even make sense for us to attempt a particular surgical approach. So I had to actually think of different ways of approaching this issue from a surgical standpoint. I spent actually a pretty good amount of time devising three different plans, and so we were, I think, prepared for every contingency.
Donna: So he did the surgery on November 12th. November 13th, we had our follow-up. And she went into the office and they took the eye patch off her eye and she started reading the chart.
Kelly: I never thought I could see again, but I did.
Donna: And how did that feel?
Kelly:It felt so good that I could walk right out of the office.
Donna: I went to grab her hand, because I've been doing this now for two years and she just took off. And she's walking in front of me and I’m like, "Where are you going?” Like watching your kid walk for the first time, you know?
Kelly: I can read, write, grow trees, like to watch TV, Little House of the Prairie, I love that.
Donna: You know, some people say, “Oh, the future is bright.” But for Kelly, it truly is. Kelly can see. With the right tools, the right doctors, the right medicine, the right environment, people can thrive, and Kelly is a walking, talking miracle.
Cataract Surgery Side Effects & Risks
Cataract surgery is one of the safest surgeries in the world. But like all procedures, there are some risks. Possible cataract surgery side effects or complications include:
- Temporary blurry vision
- Dry or itchy eyes
- Light sensitivity
- Infection or swelling (rare)
- Retinal detachment or lens movement (very rare)
We’ll go over all risks and answer your questions before surgery. We’re here to support you every step of the way.