What is Cataract?

A CATARACT is a cloudy lens of a eye. It is a condition which affects our crystalline lens, situated inside the eyeball just behind the central round black pupil. The normal crystalline lens is clear, crystal-like and transparent when young. CATARACT is a crystalline lens, which becomes less transparent or totally opaque (mature) depending on its stage of severity. Therefore, the CATARACT may be mild, moderate or severe (which may be dense, mature or hyper-mature). The danger of hyper-mature CATARACT is that the eye may be damaged totally beyond any treatment, by its own complications e.g. secondary glaucoma or uveitis. It is, therefore, advisable to operate during the early stages of CATARACT. Do not wait for your CATARACT to “mature”!

What is symptom of cataract?

CATARACT is painless, start out small and usually go unnoticed for many years eg. 10 to 20 years until they “grow” to a point where they begin to interfere with normal vision. Symptoms of CATARACT in advanced stages:

• Blurred or “cloudy” vision
• Double vision
• Colour change of the pupil
• Increased sensitivity of effected eye to light (especially at night)
• Increased nearsightedness

What are the latest CATARACT operations?

In the traditional way of doing the cataract surgery, because crystalline lens or cataract is right inside the center of the eyeball, the surgeon will have to open up the eye and remove the CATARACT and then stitch the eyeball.

With advanced technology, the eyeball does not have to be opened up and stitched. What is required is a punctured wound and the CATARACT is literally sucked out using an ultrasonic needle. This shortened the recovery period from months to weeks, as compared to the traditional method. This method is called Ultrasonic Phacoemulsification or Phaco in short.

The latest advancement in this method is the use of laser, instead of ultrasonic vibration, to break up and suck out the cataract. As a laser beam is much more concentrated in its effect, it will cause less damage to the surrounding eye tissue, as compared to Ultrasound Phaco, therefore, this Laser Phaco technique, coupled with sutureless technique, further shortens the recovery period as well as decreases the rate of complication. This Laser Phaco technique has been available in Malaysia for the first time since August 2001 with Dr. Lim Thung Kiat.

Phacoemulsification or Phaco in Cataract Extraction operations started in the 1970’s. The medium originally used was ultrasonic vibration. The cataract was broken up into small pieces by phaco technique and sucked out from the eyeball through a cannula, which was inserted into the eyeball through a small puncture wound. In the 1990’s, experiments were successfully conducted using laser with a view to replace the ultrasonic method. Laser Phaco was further developed and became commercially available in Malaysia when Dr Lim TK brought in and pioneered this treatment in 2001.

PHACO ≠ LASER

1. How much you know about LASER PHACO CATARACT SURGERY?

2. Do your friends have cataract surgery a REAL LASER?

3. Do you hear eye specialist mentioned they are using LASER to perform the cataract surgery?

4. Do you know where is your friend, parent or relative undergo the LASER cataract surgery? Are they using a REAL LASER cataract surgery.

5. Do you believe REAL LASER cataract surgery available in ELC is the ONLY ONE in Malaysia and South East Asia?

What is Phaco (Phacoemulsification)?

PHACOEMULSIFICATION literally means emulsifying (breaking up into tiny fragments) cataract (phakos). There are TWO PHACO methods available in the world, Laser Phaco and Ultrasound Phaco.

• No Suture
• No Cutting
• No Injection of Local Anesthesia
• No Hospitalization
• No General Anesthesia
• No Eye Packing

If you have all the characteristics shown above this DO NOT mean that, you undergo the REAL LASER Cataract Surgery.

Conclusion

Laser Phaco method, coupled with sutureless technique provides a painless and ultra-short recovery period which is convenient for those engaged in an active life routine, especially city dwellers. However, for hypermature cataract, the risk is higher, irrespective of the method adopted by the eye surgeon and it is definitely not suitable for Laser Phaco method. In traditional cataract surgery, one has to wait for the cataract to become mature before it is subjected to operation. The reverse is true in Laser Phaco surgery-the earlier the stage of cataract, the easier it is in performing Laser Phaco surgery. Therefore, do not procrastinate.

The Differences of LASER, Ultrasound Phaco & traditional method: