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You will be given an appointment shortly before your operation, when a nurse in the outpatients department will carry out special tests to measure your eye. One of these is a test called 'biometry' which helps decide the strength of lens that will replace the cloudy lens in your eye. The nurse will organise any tests for your general health, to make sure you are healthy enough for surgery, such as blood tests and electrocardiograph (ECG).
If you have cataracts in both eyes, you will not have the operation on both eyes at the same time. It is common for a cataract to develop more quickly in one eye than the other, and usually, the more seriously affected eye is operated on first.
What does the operation involve?
Anaesthetic drops will be put in your eyes to make them numb, and you will be awake throughout the operation. Over 90% of all cataract surgery performed in the UK is now done under local anaesthetic.
The operation takes about half an hour. Your surgeon will remove the cloudy lens by making a tiny opening into the eye at the edge of the cornea (the clear window at the front). Through this the cloudy lens will be removed and a clear plastic implant lens inserted which will allow you to see again. The surgeon will use a microscope during the operation.
Sometimes very fine stitches are used to close the cut, which maybe removed at a later date. This is also a painless procedure.
Can everyone have this operation?
Almost all patients are suitable for this type of surgery.
Will I have to stay in hospital for a long time?
Most operations for cataract are performed on a daycare basis. This means that you are admitted to hospital, have your operation and are discharged home all in the same day. You do not stay overnight in hospital.
