What’s the success rate of cataract surgery?

Written in association with: Mr Vaughan Tanner
Published: | Updated: 20/04/2023
Edited by: Laura Burgess

Modern cataract surgery is so successful that in the majority of cases, it’s driven by patient demand. Some patients will want cataract surgery at a very early stage because they wish to reduce their requirement for wearing glasses

Others, however, will prefer to hold off on having cataract surgery until they are really struggling, which means it’s a very personal decision as to when it is carried out. The usual driver is blurred vision to the extent where the patient is happy to go into hospital to have the surgical procedure.

Here, one of our leading ophthalmologists Mr Vaughan Tanner explains the success rate of the cataract procedure

What is a cataract?

cataract is an opacity of the lens within the eye, which upsets the focusing mechanism and leaves patients usually complaining of blurry vision. The cornea at the front of the eye acts as a clear window, allowing the light through. The lens sitting behind the iris is where a cataract develops. Light rays normally focus by the cornea through the pupil onto the lens, which then focuses light onto the retina.

If the opacity lies within the lens, it is not able to focus light and the image is blurred. Patients complain of difficulty with spectacles, difficulty reading road signs or reading small print, or the glare of bright lights.
 

How does an ophthalmologist perform cataract surgery?

Modern microincision cataract surgery is carried out by making incisions on the cornea to allow access through the pupil to the lens. The incisions are around 2mm in length, which allows them to be self-sealing so that no sutures are required. The eye recovers very quickly because of the micro incisions. As a result, vision is usually very good within a few days.

The cataract is removed and then an artificial lens is inserted into the eye, which is obviously not to scale. The artificial lens usually consists of a central optic which takes the place of the natural lens and focuses the light, together with these legs, which spring against the wall of the eye and hold the artificial lens in place. The majority of cataract operations are carried out using phacoemulsification (or ultrasound) power to break up the lens, allowing its removal through the small incision.
 

What's the risk of cataract surgery?

There’s a very low risk of retinal detachment following cataract surgery and for the majority of patients that shouldn’t be a major concern. The most serious risk following an eye operation is an infection and that’s about 1 in 1000.

Retinal detachment, if it happens, can usually be treated surgically and is more frequently found in those patients who are very short-sighted and are at higher risk of retinal detachment anyway due to their short-sight.
 

What’s the success rate of cataract surgery?

As eye surgeons, we’re very fortunate in that we carry out one of the most common medical procedures in the world and also one of the safest. The vast majority of patients have completely uneventful cataract surgery as a day-case procedure often under just anaesthetic drops.

There is, of course, a small risk as there is with any surgical procedure and if you added all these risks up, there’s probably about a 1 per cent chance that you will be very unhappy with your outcome following routine cataract surgery.
 

What are the results of cataract surgery?

The vast majority of patients have reasonable vision the following morning after their cataract surgery. The advantage of the very small incisions that we now use is that there is a very rapid recovery. Most people would not require any painkillers at all maybe the occasional paracetamol.

Vision is pretty good within a few days and I usually tell my patients not to drive for a week and most tell me they are in fact driving within a week. You have to be comfortable with your eye following surgery and of course able to read the number plate.

Patients will usually be asked to use drops four times a day for four weeks after their operation. And I would normally see a patient two to three weeks after the initial procedure. Assuming all is well, they would then go and visit their optician for up to date spectacles around one month after the initial cataract operation.

 

Book an appointment with Mr Tanner if you are concerned about blurry vision. 

By Mr Vaughan Tanner
Ophthalmology

Mr Vaughan Tanner has over 20 years experience as a senior consultant ophthalmic surgeon to The Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading and King Edward VII Hospital, Windsor. During that time, he led the Berkshire-wide vitreo-retinal surgical service, established a sub-specialist age-related macular degeneration service, provided a micro-incision cataract service and headed a general ophthalmic team providing care for acute and routine eye conditions. He now focuses on providing a private practice, centre of excellence for both cataract and retinal surgery. His subspecialist interests and recent advances include the introduction of sub-2mm micro-incision cataract extraction with multifocal and toric lens implants designed to significantly reduce spectacle dependence following cataract surgery.
 
He has also developed sutureless small incision vitrectomy techniques for the repair of retinal detachment, epiretinal membrane, macular hole and other vitreoretinal diseases. Mr Tanner’s extensive surgical experience includes the performance or supervision of over 15,000 major intraocular cataract and retinal procedures.

Mr Tanner has led the introduction of many new retinal treatments including Faricimab, Lucentis, Eylea anti-growth factor, intravitreal injections and Ozurdex steroid implants. These innovations have significantly improved vision for many patients suffering from age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinal vein occlusion and other retinal problems.

In the private sector, he has developed a comprehensive service aiming to provide the highest level of personal care using the latest surgical techniques available. His main practice covers Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and London with many national and international referrals. Private consultations and treatments are available at the following The Princess Margaret Hospital, Windsor, Dunedin Hospital, Reading and Circle Hospital, Reading.

His undergraduate study was at St George’s Hospital Medical School, London where he was awarded Medical Research Council funding in addition to his medical degree. His completion of higher surgical training at the Oxford Eye Hospital led to the award of the Fellowship of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. He then completed three years of advanced, sub-specialist fellowships at both Moorfields Eye Hospital, London and St Thomas’ Hospital, London. During this period he gained expertise in the surgical and medical management of all retinal disorders including macular surgery. He has co-authored “Diseases of the Ocular Fundus” which was awarded first prize as “Best Authored Post Graduate Textbook” by the Royal Society of Medicine and the Royal Society of Authors. He has previously hosted both the Southern and National Annual Meetings of the British and Eire Association of Vitreo-Retinal Surgeons. He is an invited scientific reviewer for the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

Furthermore, Mr Tanner was a consultant clinical supervisor for The Oxford Deanery School of Ophthalmology responsible for post-graduate training and also led a fellowship training programme in advanced vitreo-retinal surgical techniques for surgeons becoming consultants in this sub-specialty. He has previously been appointed both lead clinician and clinical governance lead for the ophthalmology department, Royal Berkshire Hospital and has been awarded three NHS clinical excellence awards. He is currently appointed ophthalmology lead for the Medical Advisory Committee at Princess Margaret Hospital, Windsor.

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