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Laser Cataract Surgery Overview

At nJoy Vision, laser cataract surgery offers our patients from the Oklahoma City region, including Moore, Norman, and surrounding towns the same level of precision and care that has been the hallmark of LASIK surgery for years. Compared to traditional cataract surgery, laser-assisted cataract surgery, performed at our Oklahoma City center using advanced femtosecond technology, sets new standards of precision and predictability.

Laser Cataract Surgery vs. Traditional

Traditional cataract surgery is one of the most routinely performed procedures and is generally safe and effective when performed by a skilled surgeon. Still, it requires the use of a hand-held blade to make delicate incisions in the cornea. After making these incisions, the surgeon uses a surgical instrument to manually create an opening in the lens capsule that holds the cataract. The goal is to make the corneal incisions precise and the opening in the lens capsule as circular as possible in the right location and sized to fit the replacement lens.

Laser-Assisted Cataract Surgery

It’s not an overstatement to say that femtosecond laser technology revolutionized cataract surgery. It brings new levels of safety, accuracy, and predictability to cataract surgery. Your surgeon uses the laser to create a circular opening for accessing and removing the cataract. Clinical studies have shown that this opening is approximately 10 times more accurate when performed with the laser than by hand.

Additionally, the laser breaks up and softens the hard cataract so it can be removed more gently and with significantly less ultrasound energy than used in traditional cataract surgery. This is important because using less ultrasound energy may allow your vision to recover more quickly.

During your consultation, your doctor may recommend a tailored treatment plan that includes creating ultra-precise laser incisions in the cornea and a specific lens implant type, possibly reducing your need for glasses or contact lenses after surgery. Pursuing this plan depends on your pre-operative vision and desired visual result.

Cataract Surgery Vision Correction Options

Removing your cloudy lens and replacing it with a clear lens implant—called an intraocular lens, or IOL—is an option that’s been part of cataract surgery for several years. The advancement in vision correction with cataract surgery involves several special measurements, additional procedures to correct for astigmatism, and the type of lens chosen for your unique visual needs.

Having options is very exciting, but also can be overwhelming. Rest assured, your surgeon will take as much time as needed to explain your options, evaluate your vision needs, and help you decide which is right for you.

There are numerous options to correct vision problems with cataract surgery, including the CATALYS® Precision Laser System. We like to talk about the vision correction options in 3 categories.

• Advanced Cataract Surgery: Corrects myopia, hyperopia, or astigmatism and uses presbyopic IOLs. The expectation is to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism, as well as reduce the need for near-vision glasses.
• Custom Cataract Surgery: Corrects myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism correction with or without astigmatism correcting IOL. The expectation is to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism, reducing or eliminating the need for distance vision glasses.
• Basic Cataract Surgery: Uses a basic, or standard, IOL. The expectation with basic cataract surgery is that glasses will be needed for most distance and near tasks.

The lens implant options are commonly referred to as Lifestyle Lenses, Premium Lenses, and Refractive Cataract Lenses. At nJoy Vision, vision correction is our specialty and you have access to the very best technology. There are several IOL options that remedy different types of vision problems and our surgeons help patients decide which is right for their unique needs.

Standard IOLs, or Monofocal IOLs, are fixed focal length implants that replace the natural cloudy cataract lens in the eye with a clear lens. Standard IOLs may correct some vision that required glasses prior to surgery. However, these lenses do not correct for astigmatism and are not designed to correct the vision needed to read or use a computer. This means most patients will see better than before cataract surgery, but unlike other lens options, likely will require glasses at all distances for the best vision.

Cataract Surgery Packages

At nJoy Vision, we realize that no 2 people (or their eyes) are alike. For that reason, we’ve developed 2 distinct cataract surgery packages to help ensure our patients always receive a surgical plan tailored to their needs.

Advanced Cataract Surgery: Presbyopia Correction

Our Advanced Cataract Surgery Package was created for those with presbyopia, a condition in which the lens of the eye loses its ability to focus up close. We designed the advanced plan to greatly reduce dependence on glasses for all distances. The procedure may include the following technologies:

• Laser-Assisted Cataract Surgery
• Diagnostic Corneal Mapping
• Astigmatism Reduction with Limbal Relaxing Incision
• Advanced Intraocular Lens (IOL) Implants
• Peri-Operative Lens Power Verification
• Post-Operative All-Laser enhancement
• Extended Post-Operative Care Period (6 months of Post Op Visits).

What are Multifocal IOLs?

Today, there are multiple lens implant options for cataract surgery that can minimize the need for glasses or contact lenses and restore distance and near vision. Several presbyopia-correction lens options are available, and your surgeon will recommend the best options that will meet your post-operative vision goals. Some of these lenses act like a bifocal lens, correcting both distance and near vision with a single lens.  These are called extended depth of focus (EDOF) lenses.  Others provide a better depth of focus by seamlessly adjusting focus. These types are called Multifocal IOLs.

What Are Accommodating IOLs?

Accommodating IOLs mimic the functioning of our natural young lens with a special design that allows the lens to move when your eye muscles flex (accommodation.) This movement changes the effective power of the lens within the eye and allows patients to change their focus from far to near and in between. This lens allows your eye to “zoom focus” for near, intermediate and distance vision.

Custom Cataract Surgery: Distance and Astigmatism Correction

The Custom Cataract Surgery Package was developed specifically for cataract patients with astigmatism and distance vision problems. This surgical plan was designed to give patients minimal dependence on distance vision glasses, and may include the following technologies:

• Laser-Assisted Cataract Surgery
• Diagnostic Corneal Mapping
• Astigmatism Reduction with Limbal Relaxing incision
• Advanced Toric IOL
• Peri-Operative Lens Power Verification
• Post-Operative All-Laser enhancement
• Extended Post-Operative Care Period (6 Months of Post Op Visits)

What Are Toric IOLs?

A toric lens is designed to reduce or eliminate astigmatism and improve distance vision. We offer several brands of toric lenses to correct astigmatism, which can also be corrected using various surgical techniques (arcuate incisions).

If you’ve been looking in the Oklahoma City area for a laser cataract surgery specialist, you can request a consultation at nJoy Vision by calling our office at (405) 842-6060 to discuss your options with one of our specialists. You can also submit a Cataract Self-Evaluation test to learn if you’re a good candidate for this procedure.

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