Information for Patients Undergoing Cataract Surgery
If you have been booked or contemplate being booked for cataract surgery, please take note our current wait is approximately 1 year from the date of your consultation.

A cataract is an opacity or loss of clarity within the lens substance of the eye. This is the focusing mechanism of the eye.

The only method of improving vision if one has developed cataracts is to perform a cataract extraction and replacement of the lens within the eye with an implant. This surgery is carried out at the Kamloops Surgical Centre and cannot be done by means of laser. An ultrasound device, which is a sophisticated instrument, is used. This device shatters the lens substance leaving behind an empty bag which will hold the new implant in place. This is called phacoemulsifcation surgery.
Some of you may have heard that laser is performed to clear cataracts and indeed, laser is used if this bag which holds the lens in place later becomes cloudy.

Then a short procedure can be performed to clear up this membrane, however, the initial surgery is done by means of a small incision into the eye and the ultrasound device is then used to remove the cataract.
Recently a new type of folding intraocular lens or implant has become available.This implant is folded outside the eye to approximately half its diameter. It is squeezed through an incision of approximately 3.0 mm. The implant then unfolds inside the eye, and in this way we can fit a 6 mm implant through a 3.0 mm incision. This allows quicker wound healing and reduces the chances of complications. The lens is now covered by BC Medical, but there is a measurement fee of $100 per eye. This is payable before or on the day following the surgery by either: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Debit or personal cheques. We no longer accept cash.
Surgical complications are quite rare and include hemorrhage at the time of surgery and technical problems encountered during the surgery which may prevent me from putting an implant adequately in place. Postoperatively, infection is very rare at less than 1 in 1000 and retinal detachment occurs at just less than 1%. For the most part however, complications are quite rare and the vast majority of patients are very happy with their surgery.
As with any surgical procedure however, untoward complications not mentioned above can occur, but as mentioned, these are quite rare. The surgery is carried out at the Kamloops Surgical Centre. You would be required to spend at least a few hours there. The surgery which takes approximately 20 minutes is preceded by an injection of local anesthetic around the eye which prevents eye movement and will prevent you from feeling any discomfort during the surgery.
After the operation you will be expected to wait for approximately one hour in the Outpatient Department after which you can go home.
If you are from out-of-town you would be expected to stay in a motel because I will have to see you the next day in my office. This may be on a Saturday morning, but I will see you. Arrangements for this appointment in my office will be made immediately after the surgery. You will be given an information brochure as to how to clean the eye and what eye drops to use postoperatively.
The rehabilitation period varies, but usually vision has improved by one week postoperatively and often vision has improved even prior to this. You will be expected to use drops in the eye for a period of two weeks. For the first 1-3 days vision may be quite blurred and your eye may feel scratchy and look red.
I will see you one day postoperatively and usually one to two weeks later. Thereafter, you can follow-up with your local Optometrist for a final pair of glasses between two (for foldable lenses) and six weeks (for non-foldable lenses) postoperatively depending on the size of incision. The hope is to improve the power of the eye to reduce the strength of your spectacles. Occasionally, you will be able to dispense of your spectacles either for distance or near, but invariably one would need spectacles either for reading, for distance vision or for a combination of both as the eye will lose it's ability to focus at both distance and near.
If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to contact me after you have read this pamphlet carefully.

Peter Hopp, MD
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Interior Retina, Kamloops, B.C., Canada, Dr. Peter Hopp, argon laser treatments for diabetic retinopathy, branch retinal vein occlusions, clinically significant macular edema, central serous retinopathy, lattice degeneration, macular edema and retinal tears, retinal detachments, vitreous hemorrhages, dropped nucleuses, macular holes

laser treatment of the retina, laser treatment for glaucoma, laser treatment for diabetic eye disease, laser treatment for certain types of macular degeneration,surgery for cataracts, retinal detachment, macular hole, epiretinal membrane, diabetic retinal disease,vitreous hemorrhages, chalazion excision, entropion, other miscellaneous retinal and vitreous disorders

Interior Retina, Kamloops, B.C., Canada, Dr. Peter Hopp, argon laser treatments for diabetic retinopathy, branch retinal vein occlusions, clinically significant macular edema, central serous retinopathy, lattice degeneration, macular edema and retinal tears, retinal detachments, vitreous hemorrhages, dropped nucleuses, macular holes

Interior Retina provides treatment and management of glaucoma, iritis, scleritis, vein/artery occlusions, diabetic eye diseases, corneal abrasions, double vision, floaters, optic neuritis, uveitis and after-cataracts.

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