Center for Sight

Comprehensive Eye Care Center

Cataract Surgery

Cataract surgery at Center for Sight in Fall River is safe, effective, convenient and quite common. If you suspect that you have a cataract or have been told that you have a cataract, there is little need to be alarmed. In the United States, more than 2.5 million people have cataract surgery each year. Thanks to advanced surgical techniques and advanced lens implants, cataract surgery is not only one of the most frequently performed surgical procedures in the United States, but it is also one of the safest and most successful surgical procedures that you can have.

The cataract surgeons at Center for Sight perform cataract surgery using a “no stitch no injection no patch” technique on an outpatient basis at the East Bay Surgery Center or other local facilities as may be required by your insurance plans. The East Bay Surgery Center allows Massachusetts and Rhode Island cataract patients to have their cataract surgery as well as other types of eye surgery, in a convenient, friendly and cost-effective setting in Swansea, Massachusetts. Cataract surgery today is quite comfortable. When you arrive at the surgery center there will be several staff members present to assist you and make your experience pleasant. The entire process usually only requires a few hours of your time from beginning to end.

Your cataract surgery procedure begins with the Fall River Cataract Surgeons from Center for Sight begins placing a few sets of drops in your eye to dilate your pupil. Your eye will then be treated with an anesthetic so that you will feel little if anything during your surgery. Some patients experience pressure, cold or mild burning, but almost never discomfort.

Next, your Center for Sight Cataract Surgeon will make a very small incision at the outermost edge of your cornea. This incision will be just large enough to allow a microscopic instrument the size of a pen tip to pass through it.

Next, your eye surgeon will gently pass a microscopic instrument through the tiny incision and create an opening in the capsule of the Crystalline Lens to allow access to the cloudy lens material.

Next, your eye surgeon will gently pass a microscopic instrument through the tiny incision and create an opening in the capsule of the Crystalline Lens to allow access to the cloudy lens material.

Your Center for Sight eye surgeon will gently pass another high technology microscopic instrument through the tiny incision. Sound waves or “Ultrasound” produced at the tip of the instrument will be used to gently break the cataract into pieces small enough to be washed away, drawn through the instrument and removed from your eye. This cataract removal technique is called “phacoemulsification” and is preferred for most patients.

After the cataract has been removed, your eye surgeon will be able to insert a new, crystal clear permanent Intraocular Lens Implant (IOL) into your eye. The replacement lens will be inserted and placed in the correct position through the same tiny incision at the outer edge of the cornea through which your eye surgeon removed the cataract

Upon completion of your cataract and lens implant surgery, your Center for Sight eye surgeon will have one of the surgery center staff members take you to a comfortable place where you will be able to rest and relax prior to going home. After resting for a short while, a surgery staff member will give you permission to have a family member or friend drive you home. Your surgeon will arrange to see you at Center for Sight within 24 hours of your Cataract and Lens Implant Surgery so he or she can examine you and confirm that you are healing and seeing as planned. The doctors will also prescribe some eye drops for you to use and may ask you to wear a protective shield, mainly at night, to remind you not to accidentally rub your eye. Although each patient will heal a little bit differently, most patients having Cataract Surgery at Center for Sight are able to see well enough to return to their routine daily activities within a day or so after their cataract surgery.

A considerable number of men in their 50’s and 60’s and beyond experience an enlarged prostate as part of the aging process. Today, many of men are taking the prescription medication Flomax® or other similar medications that are members of the class of drugs called “alpha-antagonists” or “alpha blockers”. These may include Hytrin® (Terazosin), Cardura (doxazosin), Flomax® (Tamsulosin), Uroxatral® (Alfuzosin) and Rapaflo® (Silodosin).

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU NOTIFY OUR STAFF BEFORE YOU HAVE CATARACT SURGERY IF YOU ARE TAKING ANY MEDICATION FOR AN ENLARGED PROSTATE

Certain medications commonly used to treat an enlarged prostate can cause abnormal movement of muscles controlling the opening and closing of the Iris. During cataract surgery, the pupil must stay enlarged or dilated to allow your cataract surgeon to easily view the Crystalline Lens. Flomax® and certain other alpha-blockers including Hytrin®, Cardura and Uroxatral® in particular, can interfere with pupil dilation, creating a condition known as Intraoperative Floppy Iris Syndrome (IFIS). If you are taking one of these medications and alert any member of our staff, the Center for Sight cataract surgeons will be able to take extra care to make sure the pupil stays dilated to prevent unexpected complications during your cataract surgery.