CATARACT
Lens is the tool the eye uses for the fine focusing of light on retina and for accommodation - that is to focus near objects.
It sometimes opacifies, forms cataract, commonly with aging, following injuries to the eyes or due to other eye diseases. Less commonly it occurs in children and infrequently, following other eye surgeries.
When the lens opacity is significant, it has to be taken out surgically. There are no known medications to reverse or melt the cataracts.
Gold standard technique of performing the surgery is by way of Phacoemulsification using ultrasound energy could be completed in 15-20 minutes and hospital stay may be as short as a couple of hours and newest addition is micro incision cataract surgery (MICS) which can be performed through ultra small incision on the cornea, as small as 2-2.2 mm. This allows for rapid wound stabilization, healing.
Present day cataract surgery can be performed without any injectable anesthesia, without stitches (and even without bandage !).
However, the larger, scleral incision (SICS) techniques are still valid, may need to be employed in certain conditions, and also have evolved to be done without stitches.
