aractous lens and corrects astigmatism, which depends on perfect centration and alignment of the intraocular lens. Prior to surgery, each patient’ s eye has been measured using optical biometry, accurate to within a 100 th of a millimeter, allowing for selection of the appropriate lens implant power by using complex mathematical formulas.
The patient lies perfectly still beneath the laser, which performs its function in less than a minute’ s time. Then the patient is sedated for surgery, and it’ s just a few moments until Dr. Lee will see them again.
“ A successful surgery requires dexterity from the physician, but it also takes a good team,” Dr. Lee explained.“ You have to have a good crew of experienced technicians nearby.”
In a room adjacent to the femtosecond laser are the patients who’ ve just come from surgery. Dr. Lee makes sure to visit each patient before they leave for that day, quickly going over the essentials: A recap of the procedure, tips for recovery to both the patient and a loved one if present, directions on medication and a reminder of tomorrow’ s check-up.
Dr. Lee was pleasant and attentive, making sure each patient was mentally prepared for the recovery process and touching on individual issues before saying goodbye for the morning. the process and cared for by attentive nurses from start to finish.
My last surgery of the day was the most interesting. As an incision was made in the patient’ s eye, the iris began to stick to the instrument and come out. It was quite strange to see the blue of the patient’ s eye essentially forming a tear drop as it tried to escape from the incision.
To their credit, Dr. Lee and her team reacted to this new challenge without hesitation. The procedure was put on hold as they found the stabilizing ring necessary to hold the iris in place. It was inserted into the eye and the surgery continued as planned. Once the cataract had been removed and the artificial lens placed, the final step was to now remove the ring used to hold the iris in place.
The extra instrument added a new layer of difficulty to the standard procedure, but the staff handled it with resolve. Afterwards, Dr. Lee was relieved that the aberration had not caused any complications.
“ It took a little longer because you have to stop and get the iris under control, but the procedure turned out fine. There should be no complications, just a little additional redness,” said Dr. Lee, noting that“ the name of that issue is‘ intraoperative floppy iris syndrome.’ We see that a lot with patients who are taking certain medications which make the iris stickier, but it’ s nothing we can’ t handle.”
With the sticky iris providing some last-minute added drama, my time shadowing Dr. Lee came to a close. It was a literally eye-opening experience and truly unlike anything I’ ve seen before. I’ d like to thank Dr. Lee and her staff for being so welcoming and allowing a layperson see the very fascinating world of cataract surgery. With estimates from the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery saying 3 million cataract procedures take place each year in the United States, my mind is at ease that if I or a loved one ever need the procedure, care will be given both swiftly and professionally.
Aaron Burch is the communications specialist for the Greater Louisville Medical Society.
“ I like to see everyone the day after surgery, then a week, then a month. If there’ s any problem, I see them more often. I also call them at home the night of the surgery just to see how they’ re doing,” she said.“ Complications are pretty rare for cataract surgery, about one out of every 5,000. But we always check for pressure, infection and bleeding just to be safe.”
So the morning surgical routine went: surgery to surgery to laser to recovery and repeat. Each patient was moved smoothly through
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