Laser Cataract Surgery with LenSx

At HCEC we proudly provide Laser cataract surgery services through our associated hospitals Hunter Valley Private and Hunter Eye Hospital with the LenSx laser from Alcon.

Traditionally cataract surgery is performed as a manual procedure, with the eye surgeon using a hand held blade to create small incisions on the edge of the cornea, then the surgeon peels a circular hole in the surface of the lens of the eye, and then removes the cataractous lens with an ultrasound probe, breaking the lens into small pieces and then sucking them out. An artificial lens is then inserted.

With laser surgery, the eye is carefully placed under a docking station for lens pre-treatment, which holds the eye with gentle suction, and allows accurate focusing of the laser. High definition scans of the eye are performed, and the tailored surgical plan is entered into the lasers computer system. Once the plan is complete the laser procedure commences, and the laser bladelessly and accurately creates the incisions, the circular hole on the lens and fractures the lens into small pieces.

The patient then moves to the operating theatre and the operation is completed with the incisions being opened and once again the lens is sucked out and an artificial lens is inserted.

There are several advantages with the laser,

1. Reproducibility; the laser creates all of the incisions exactly the same each time. This is a computer controlled procedure and is not subject to hand movements.
2. Safety; the laser is quite gentle on the eye and studies are showing far less injury to the cornea, reduced energy use in the eye, and reduced post operative inflammation. This leads to faster recover and a lower chance of late issues from cataract surgery.
3. Safety; there is a lower complication rate compared to manual surgery
4. Results; due to the precision of the incisions the artificial lens sits reliably within the eye and as a result post operative vision results are predictable and stable with a lower chance of residual focus error.

Laser surgery is the way forward, like many processes that are now automated; this is the eye surgery equivalent and is leading to unprecedented high quality surgery, particularly with the use of the new generation multifocal artificial lenses that are creeping us closer to our ultimate goal: high quality vision at all distances.

Article: New patient interface improves laser cataract surgery