ULTRASOUND SURGERY FOR AN OPTIMAL RECOVERY OF SIGHT

The Clinica San Francesco is also specialized in ophthalmological operations, particularly in senile cataract procedure. The most common technique for the solution of this problem is the phacoemulsification, consisting in the fragmentation of lens nucleus inside the eye through ultrasounds and in its following aspiration. The eye operation is carried out briefly (about 10/15 minutes) by a small tube inserted into the eye through a few millimeters opening. In most cases the operation permits a good visual recovery.

Normally, if there are not lesions in other parts of eye, it’s a question of an outpatient operation performed in local anesthesia (parabulbar injection) or topical anesthesia (administration of collyrium), but always with help of an anesthesiologist able to best manage possible emergencies. In many cases the course allows a good visual recovery.

Thanks to technologies and state of the art materials, used by the Clinic surgery team, the surgical trauma is reduced to a minimum and the postoperative rehabilitation is more rapid and effective.

Secondary cataract and laser

In some cases, from some week until some year from operation, the posterior lens capsule (on which the artificial lens leans) can start opacifying itself again, causing a secondary cataract. This is the only type of cataract able to stand up to an operation with laser Nd:YAG (neodymium-YAG).

Future developments

In cataract surgery a new type of ultra-rapide pulse laser (femtosecond laser) has been recently introduced. Actually this laser doesn’t replace the phacoemulsification procedure that is still the most common and reliable, but it can be used instead of microknife to carry out small preliminary incisions during the cataract extraction. The combination femtolaser- phacoemulsification seems to be promising to improve further the eye surgery, already extremely evolved.