Laser Vs Knife Cataract Surgery

Laser cataract surgery more than 1 5 million cataract surgeries are performed annually in the u s.

Laser vs knife cataract surgery.

Ultrasound waves break the cataract into tiny pieces which are then removed. Laser cataract surgery is not covered by most insurance plans. Laser or advanced cataract surgery will provide the same outcome as traditional cataract surgery but the difference is in the tools used and overall method. It creates a more reliable repeatable precise incision than a surgeon can do by hand.

Traditional cataract surgery and. The laser may be useful when correcting for astigmatism aligning an astigmatism correcting intraocular lens or softening a dense cataract. The new artificial lens is inserted to replace the cloudy natural lens. Laser cataract surgery also called refractive laser assisted cataract surgery relacs is an advanced type of cataract surgery that uses femtosecond laser technology to bring a new level of precision and accuracy to specific steps in cataract surgery that traditionally have been performed with hand held surgical tools.

During laser assisted cataract surgery your doctor typically uses the laser to make all incisions and to soften the cataract for removal by ultrasound phacoemulsification. But cadwell wanted laser cataract surgery which is newer more technically advanced and as one might suspect more expensive. Clinical evidence supporting the supposition that femtosecond laser assisted cataract surgery will actually produce better outcomes than manual cataract surgery has been limited at best but there is some reason to believe it may. The researchers found that no eye lost visual acuity due to complications from the surgery and as a result this surgery type could be considered safe.

It is recognized as being safe and effective. Laser surgery for cataracts is the removal of a lens that has a cataract followed by replacement of the lens in the eye with an artificial prescription lens. It costs more than traditional cataract surgery as well. Laser assisted blade free cataract surgery both reduces the number of instruments used and increases the precision of the procedure.

The procedure is safe and effective but according to the american academy of opthalmology laser cataract surgery is more costly than the traditional method and the cost is not. For example in a study in the journal of cataract and refractive surgery researchers examined the eyes of 170 people who had laser cataract surgery. Traditional surgery traditional cataract surgery in which the surgeon uses a knife to make a small incision in the eye to replace a clouded intraocular lens is covered by medicare. Not all cataract surgery is done by a laser these days.

One of the best justifications for adopting a new approach to any surgery is that it produces better outcomes than the existing method.