Cataract treatment
Cataract surgery
Cataract surgery is the most common operation performed in the UK today and has, on average, a 99% success rate. It’s currently the only reliable treatment for cataracts.
Cataract surgery
Before you look at the details of your cataract surgery, there are two very important things you need to know that should help to put your mind at rest:
- There are NO needles involved – All the anaesthetics and medication for your eyes are administered by eye drops and a tiny pellet is used to dilate the pupils, so there’s no need to worry about any needles or injections
- It’s one of the quickest operations you can have – You will be at the hospital on the day of your cataract surgery for about 3 hours, but the actual surgery itself usually only lasts about 20 minutes.
Questions about cataract treatment
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Painful? – Is cataract surgery painful?
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Removal – How are cataracts removed?
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See – What do you see during cataract surgery?
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Surgery – How is cataract surgery performed?
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Surgery – How long does cataract surgery take?
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Surgery – How many cataract surgeries are performed each year in the UK?
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Surgery – What happens if cataracts are left untreated?
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Short-sighted – Does cataract surgery correct short-sightedness?
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Recovery – How long does it take to recover after cataract surgery?
Posterior capsule rupture - PCR rates
As the UK’s largest provider of NHS cataract surgery, SpaMedica performs tens of thousands of successful cataract surgeries every year. Only 0.49% of our patients experience the most common complication of cataract surgery, a condition known as posterior capsule rupture, meaning our complication rates are well below the national benchmark of 1.1%.
Complications
The risk of serious complications developing as a result of cataract surgery is very low. Most common cataract surgery complications can be treated with medicines or further surgery. There is a very small risk – around 1 in 1,000 – of permanent sight loss in the treated eye as a direct result of the operation.
