Cataract surgery is performed on an outpatient basis, and usually requires just a few hours of your time from arrival to departure. Your eye will be treated with anesthetic drops prior to the procedure so you'll feel no discomfort. The most common procedure used for removing cataracts is called phacoemulsification. A small incision is made in the side of the cornea (the front part of your eye). Your doctor inserts a tiny instrument through the incision that uses high-frequency ultrasound to break up the center of the cloudy lens and removes it.

After the cloudy lens has been removed, the surgeon will replace it with an intraocular lens (IOL) implant made of silicone or acrylic. This new lens allows light to pass through and focus on the retina. The IOL becomes a permanent part of your eye and should last a lifetime. In most cases, the IOL is inserted behind the iris, the colored part of your eye, and is called a posterior chamber lens. Sometimes, the IOL must be placed in front of the iris. This is called an anterior chamber lens. When the IOL is in place, the incision closes and remains tightly sealed due to outward pressure inside the eye.

What to Expect After the Procedure

After the procedure you'll rest a short while before you go home. The next day, you will follow-up with your doctor. You will use prescription eye drops to guard against infection and help your eye heal. Everyone heals differently, but most patients see well enough to resume normal activities the day after surgery, so post-operative limitations are few.
In some cases, the part of the lens covering that supports the IOL (called the capsule) can become cloudy several months or years after the cataract was removed. This is called an “after cataract” or “secondary cataract.” If this occurs, you will perceive that there is a film over your vision. This is easily corrected by your ophthalmologist will make an opening in the center of the cloudy capsule with a laser to allow light to pass through the lens properly again. This procedure, called a posterior capsulotomy, takes about one minute, is completely painless, last forever, and requires no recovery period.