Lasers cataract operation or ultrasound method of cataract surgery. Contact us for fore details.
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Cataract is clouding of a natural lens that leads to poor vision. The vision becomes blurry and colors become pale (yellowish-brown tones prevail). Night vision problems (night driving) appear when visual acuity becomes
even worse, and sometimes people see circles around source of light. According to the latest research conducted by the World Health Organization, over 50% of the non treated cases lead to blindness.
Cataract occurs most frequently in the third age, after 65, as a result of degenerative changes in the lens. It can also occur earlier because of some other illness, when it is called secondary cataract (trauma, exposure to irradiation, metabolic disease, diabetes, corticosteroid use, etc.). If cataract is present in the infant – it is called congenital cataract.
Cataract surgery is recommended when a patient has a functional problem. This is most common when visual acuity decreases to 70 percent and lower. It is important to note that it is not recommended to wait for the cataract to “ripe” as it used to be, because it is easier to perform the surgery at an early stage. Later, when the cataract gets mature, much more ultrasonic energy is needed to remove the cloudy part of the lens and the procedure is more difficult and risky.
The cataract is usually detected when the patient notice that vision weakens and that loss cannot be corrected by wearing eyewear. Refractive error is rapidly changing and people often change a few glasses a year. Driving a car becomes more difficult, especially at night, when glare and circles appear around the light source.
• Cataract and driving (low vision)
• Glare and halo effect
• Glasses do not help
Blury vision can be caused by a variety of diagnoses, such as: diopter change, astigmatism, glaucoma, eye changes, etc. However, in the case of people older than 65, blurred vision is most often caused by changes in the lens or cataract .
Questionnaire – Do I have a cataract?
Fill out a short questionnaire done up by our specialists and check with 90% accuracy if you have a cataract and whether you need a specialist examination.
The examination is very important and needs to be thorough, performed by a specialist ophthalmologist.
The examination includes:
• Determining the refractive power,
• Eye pressure measurement,
• Slit lamp examination,
• Tear film evaluation,
• Dilating the pupils
As a part of the exam, biometry is performed – the calculation of the optical power of the intraocular lens that will be inserted in the eye during the operation.
Biometrics may be performed ultrasonically or with a special laser device, which is more precise and is very important if the patient decides to have multifocal intraocular lens implanted (clear vision at all distances).
Modern clinics usually also have an endothelial microscope which determines the number and shape of the corneal endothelial cells, which is important because it assesses the risk of surgery.
Ocular ultrasound is also required to exclude certain ocular eye diseases (retinal ablation).
* You can do all of the above mentioned exams at the Knezović Clinic in one day without waiting. MAKE AN APPOINTMENT.
Unfortunately, until today there is no therapy that has been proven in treatment of cataract. It is important to reduce exposure to UV radiation and to avoid over exposure to sunlight during hot summer days. It is also recommended to regulate the diet and eat as much heat-untreated vegetables (peppers, carrots, green salad). The only effective way of treatment is surgery.
Eye pressure is not the cause of the cataract, although cataracts may sometimes cause eye pressure increase and glaucoma. There are two reasons.
The first is that the lens volume increases, which moves the lens forward and partially closes the eye drainage system (trabeculum). This causes an increase in the pressure of the eye, because the aqueous (liquid that fills the eye) can not get out of the eye (phacomorphic glaucoma).
Another reason for increasing eye pressure due to cataracts may be the increased release of protein from the cloudy lens which obstructs the trabeculum with protein clots (phacolytic glaucoma).
You can read more about the exam on our site.
* You can do all of the above exams at the Knezović Clinic in one day without waiting.
MAKE AN APPOINTMENT
The surgery can be done through health insurance in most SLO hospitals. Patients usually complain about long waiting lists.
Also, in the hospitals it is not possible to obtain a multifocal intraocular lens, so after the surgery it is necessary to wear glasses to achieve full visual acuity.
If a patient decides to a have surgery in the hospital, we recommend an exam to be performed in one of the private clinics to better determine all of the parameters due to more advanced technology and to shorten the waiting time for the examination.
The eye drops that dilate the pupils are applied when patient arrives to the Clinic. Eye pressure and blood pressure are measured and the patient is examined on the slit-lamp.
After about an hour (depending on how fast pupils dilate), the patient is ready to go to the operating room. In the operating room, the patient is comfortably placed on the operating table, which is soft and movable in multiple directions to ergonomically adapt to each patient.
Nurses disinfect the skin around the eyes, put a sterile patch over the patient, and place an eyelid holder that helps the patient not to blink. The eye is anesthetized with eyedrops and there is no need for general anesthesia. No injections are given and the procedure is completely painless.
The surgery itself lasts about 10 minutes. The patient looks at the light source and is constantly awake and communicating with the surgeon. Since surgery is painless and fast, most patients are surprised that everything has passed so quickly and easily, and that all the fears that people usually have before the procedure were unnecessary. The procedure is performed through a small incision only 2 mm wide, without the need for sutures or any injection. At the end of the procedure, the lens is implanted in the eye, which also enters the eye through the small incision and unfolds in the eye. At the end of the surgery, sterile eyepatch is put on the eye and the patient leaves the operating room with a help of medical staff.
About half an hour after surgery, the patient goes home, warned to avoid greater physical exertion and unfavorable microclimatic conditions (wind, dust, smoke). Check-up examination is scheduled next morning.
Three hours after surgery
Sterile eyepatch may be removed from the eye. Except for the first check-up examination the next day, it is recommended to have a check-up one-month after the surgery (when glasses are prescribed if needed). Regular control follow-up of the patient are scheduled 6 months and a year after the surgery.
Every surgical procedure may have potential complications such as eye infections, damage to the eye tissues during surgery, etc. With modern technology and ultrasonic devices that release minimal amounts of ultrasonic energy,
complications are extremely rare. The reason for this is stable eye pressure during the entire procedure. Before, when the surgeries were not performed ultrasonically (classical method or ECCE), complications were much more frequent and the results of the procedure were worse. Nowadays, cataract surgery has become a routine surgery.
Once the cataract surgery has been performed, the cataract cannot emerge again. The surgery effect is lasting and lifelong.
The Knezović Clinic is equipped with state-of-the-art technology for cataract surgery. The ultrasonic device Infiniti is characterized as an extremely precise and functions in multiple modes in order to individually adapt to each patient. Energy dissipation is minimal, leading to rapid recovery after surgery without any adverse effects on the surrounding eye tissue. Apart from technology, the advantage of our Clinic is a great experience in calculating different intraocular lenses (especially multifocal) as well as in the actual performance of the surgery attributed to Dr. Knezović´s experience gained through several thousand successful surgeries. It is important to emphasize the kind and humane approach of all of the Knezović Clinic employees, which further influences the outcome of the whole process as people are calm and well informed about each step of the operation. There is no fear or unknowns, nor hidden costs of the intervention.
During surgery or examination, the Clinic staff is available for outpatient care, and all control check-up examinations and postoperative therapy are free for a year after the surgery itself.
Dr. Knezović has been educated in several centers of excellence for ultrasound cataract surgery, such as Munich, Columbia, India (personally trained by Dr. Agarwal, one of the most famous cataract surgeons in the world).
In the Republic of Croatia he introduced the “karate chop” technique, which is characterized by extremely precise lens fragmentation technique. This further reduces the need for ultrasound, which is especially important for harder and more difficult cases of cataract. Dr Knezović performs all cataract surgery and all laser eye corrections in our Clinic.
Dr. Knezović has introduced ultrasonic cataract surgery in KB Dubrava where he had been working for 5 years and performed several thousands cataract surgeries and trained his colleagues on this advanced technique. It is important to emphasize that, apart from surgery, Dr Knezović successfully performs laser refractive surgeries, which may be important if a certain need for glasses appears after the surgery, and many patients come for another opinion because of imprecise lens calculations and therefore worse eyesight than expected postoperatively. In this case – laser correction can be performed.
At Knezović Clinic we implant the Symfony® lenses of the highest qualitiy. These are intraocular lenses that have the so-called ” extended range of vision” and provide patients with best possible vision without wearing glasses.
Symfony® Lenses:
• Excellent vision for near vision, middle distance (computer) and distance vision
• Better contrast sensitivity compared to lenses currently available on the market
The cost of surgery depends on the type of intraocular lens implanted in the eye.
Generally speaking, monofocal lenses are cheaper. With those, the patient has a good distance vision after surgery, while reading requires +2.5 dioptric glasses.
Multifocal intraocular lenses are more expensive because they give clear vision at all distances. This type of lens implantation requires an experienced surgeon as well as adequate equipment to minimize potential side effects such as glare and halos around the light source. In the Knezović Clinic, we mostly use Symfony® – the lens of highest quality standards.
It does not always mean that the most expensive surgery is the best one. Patients who do not have the problem with wearing reading glasses after surgery do not have the choose more expensive variants. Please note the importance of preoperative examination where we make all the necessary calculations and give detailed information to the patient.
You can see the prices of the surgery in our valid PRICE LIST, and if you have any questions, contact us at info@knezovic.com.hr or by phone +385 1 6677 222
For all the questions fell free
to call us 01 / 66 77 222
Poliklinika Knezović
Green Gold Business Center, Tower V1, 8th floor
Ulica grada Vukovara 269f
10000 Zagreb
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