Mr Scott has a wealth of experience in cataract surgery and has performed over 5000 procedures. Mr Scott's interest in cataract and refractive surgery started in 1993. He introduced cataract surgery for fast jet aircrew, the refractive results of this are crucial to their ability to fly again. As part of his surgical workload he surgically manages the complications and complex cases from other surgeons in the region. He has published scientific articles on anaesthesia and complex cataract surgery. He was awarded a certificate in Refractive Surgery from the University of Ulster and has written the policy for laser refractive surgery in Military Aircrew. His main interest in refractive surgery is the management severely short-sighted individuals who are unable to have safe laser refractive surgery, with intraocular lens implantation.
A cataract is a clouding of part of your eye or the lens. Your vision becomes blurred because the cataract is like frosted glass, interfering with your sight. It is not a layer that grows over the front of the eye, despite what you may have heard. The lens normally a clear tissue that is found behind the iris, the coloured part of the eye. The lens helps to focus light on the back of the eye-the retina-forming an image. What the diagram demonstrates the main parts of the eye to help understand how the lens works. The cataract may give you blurring of vision and may also leave you dazzled by light such as car headlamps and sunlight you may also get a change in your colour vision where the colour becomes washed out or faded.
Cataracts can form at any age, but most develop as people become older. Though it is not possible to tell why most form, they can result from conditions such as diabetes, certain medications and other longstanding eye problems.
The most effective treatment for cataracts is an operation to remove the cloudy lens and replace it with a clear lens inside the eye. Diets or drugs have not been shown to slow or stop the development of cataract. The operation is now performed as soon as the eyesight interferes with daily life. If you are a driver you must reach the visual standard required by the Drivers and Vehicle Licensing Authority and it may necessary to have the cataract removed in order to keep your licence.
Before the operation you and your eye will be carefully checked to see if the operation is warranted or needed. If this is the case the eye must be measured using an ultrasound ruler at a separate visit in order to decide the lens that will be put in after the operation. Mr Scott virtually always uses the small incision stitchless phacoemulsification technique to remove the cataract and replaces it with an intraocular implant. He uses either a local or general anaesthetic depending on the circumstances and choice of the patient.
Most people have a local anaesthetic, where they are wide awake, but feel nothing in the eye during the operation. During a general anaesthetic the patient is completely unconscious and it is like sleeping through the operation. After the operation many people notice an improvement in sight over the next day or so, although complete healing may take several months. Eye drops are given for up to 2 months after the operation for possible inflammation or infection. These must be put in regularly, as directed.
Cataract surgery is one of the most successful operations in medicine. Fewer than two per cent of patients have serious, unforeseen complications. Most of these complications can be dealt with. One of the commonest and most easy correctable complications is a thickening of the lens casing/part of the eye that holds the lens in place. This is easily corrected with laser treatment as an out-patient procedure.