Based on the symptoms, the patient and the ophthalmologist should decide when surgery is appropriate.

Close to 2 million people have cataract surgery each year and more than 95% of these operations are performed with no complications and are highly successful unless there is a problem with the cornea, retina, optic nerve or other structures of the eye.

Cataract surgery is an outpatient procedure. The ophtalmologist performs the surgery using a microscope and several instruments of modern techonology with the patient under local or topical anesthesia.

Dr. Santamaria performs the most advanced cataract surgery procedure, "Topical Clear Cornea", which involves numbing the eye with drops and making a 3mm incision on a side of the cornea determined by a number of calculations made prior to surgery. This incision is self-healing, and it depends on the intraocular lens chosen whether it would require sutures. This means it is a painless, bloodless surgery that takes from 10 to 15 minutes.

After the incision is done, the cataract is broken up by an ultrasonic oscillating probe and suctioned out of the eye. Then a foldable intraocular lens or implant is inserted into the eye to take the place of the natural lens and focus light on the retina. This surgery method is called Phacoemulsification.

After the surgery, the patient must use drops for a certain time to aid the healing process and must come back for several checkups to make sure the eye is healing well. It is important to understand that complications may occur during or after the surgery, so if the patient experiences any problems after surgery, they should contact their ophthalmologist immediately.

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