Surgery on the anterior segment of the eye
At Balog Ophthalmic Polyclinic you can operate on the cataract as early as one week after the initial examination, except in cases when it is necessary to wait for the production and delivery of individualized intraocular lenses of non-standard characteristics.
Thanks to state-of-the-art technology, knowledge, and experienced surgeons, cataract surgery is safe, painless, fast, and effective operation.
The operation is performed under local anesthesia, which means that the patient is awake during the procedure, but is sedated and does not feel the action. Initial incisions of 2 mm are made in the eye, through which the eye is entered, then by phacoemulsification, the natural blurred lens (barbell) is crushed and “sucked” out of the eye, and an intraocular lens is placed in its place and remains in the eye. The whole procedure lasts on average about an hour, so the patient is free to return to their daily activities after the procedure, with slight sparing.
How long does recovery take and how to behave after surgery?
The operated eye, after surgery, has minimal postoperative symptoms and signs, and recovery is quick.
The patient should use the prescribed drops and ointment for a few weeks and the eye should be covered for only one day.
Follow-up examinations are scheduled 24 hours after surgery, 7 days after surgery, and 2-3 weeks after surgery.
The categories of lenses that can be installed with us are:
- Monofocal intraocular lenses (the patient generally does not have to wear glasses at a distance, but must wear them when working at close range)
- Monofocal hybrid intraocular lenses, ie lenses with extended focus, (the patient does not have to use glasses most of the time, but they are still needed for prolonged work at close range)
- Multifocal intraocular lenses (patient completely without spectacle correction at both distance and near)
Recently, there has been a trend of diopter removal with laser treatments, which mainly dominates in younger people.
However, after the age of 40, the ability to spontaneously sharpen the image at close range (accommodation) gradually weakens and disappears, then patients are advised to consider a surgical method of surgical removal of diopters – the method of phacoemulsification.
How to correct age-related farsightedness?
Age-related farsightedness can be corrected on several levels depending on the extent of freedom (not) to wear glasses that the patient wants:
- by installing multifocal intraocular lenses (the largest range of freedom of not wearing glasses in all forms of life activities)
- by installing lenses with an extended range of vision, the so-called EDoF-lens, (more moderate range of freedom)
- by installing the latest generation of monofocal lenses with the additional effect of extended depth of focus, which, in addition to impeccable distance vision, provide the patient with a fairly good average working distance (reduced range of freedom of not wearing glasses).
Choosing the optimal lens for each patient depends on the health of the eye and the visual needs of the patient. Addressing the need to wear glasses significantly improves the quality of life.
Today, an increasing number of patients are opting for surgical correction of age-related farsightedness.
It is a surgical procedure in which the natural lens of the eye is replaced by an artificial lens that enables excellent vision at different distances permanently, ie for life. The whole procedure on the day of the operation lasts on average about an hour, and the patient is free to return to their daily activities while adhering to the recommended measures of milder sparing.
How long does recovery take and how to behave after surgery?
The operated eye after the procedure has minimal postoperative symptoms and signs, and recovery is quick.
The patient should use the prescribed drops and ointment for several weeks, and the eye must be closed for only one day.
Follow-up examinations are scheduled 24 hours after surgery, 7 days after surgery, and 2-3 weeks after surgery.
Surgical procedures on the posterior segment of the eye
Retinal detachment is an urgent condition that needs to be operated on as soon as possible, preferably within 24 hours if the macula (center of vision) is not detached. In case the same (macula off) has occurred, the procedure can be postponed for up to a week. During ablation, the retina cracks, and a retinal hole is created. Eye water enters through the retinal hole and gradually further detaches the retina from the back of the eye.
How is retinal detachment treated?
Retinal detachment is treated with an operation called Pars Plana Vitrectomy (PPV).
Because the retina feeds only while glued to the back of the eye, any retinal detachment permanently damages it.
Therefore, eye surgery should be performed as soon as possible and any waiting can lead to poorer results in terms of final postoperative visual acuity.
Eye surgery is performed under local potentiated anesthesia with sedation. This means that the patient receives anesthesia (so-called BLOK) next to the eye, and medications for sedation through a vein, such a method of eye surgery is minimally painful.
The entire procedure lasts an average of an hour, the patient goes home after the procedure, and behaves in accordance with the surgeon’s instructions.
During vitrectomy, the eye is inserted into 3-4 holes, 3 mm from the edge of the cornea. During the operation, the vitreous of the eye is removed. After removing the glass, the holes on the retina are detected and closed with laser seals.
At the end of the operation, gas or silicone oil is instilled into the eye to push and keep the retina adhering until it completely heals again. The advantage of the gas is that it is resorbed from the eye after 2-6 weeks and it is not necessary to go for additional surgery as in the extraction of silicone oil.
In cases of ablation that is not detected in time or is complicated and has scars, silicone oil is placed in the eye, which is then removed from the eye after a few months but can remain for years if the eye is more severely damaged.
In more severe forms of ablation, it is sometimes necessary to repeat the operation to achieve the desired result.
How long does recovery take and how to behave after surgery?
The operated eye after the operation has minimal postoperative symptoms and signs, and the recovery is fast, but still slightly longer compared to the recovery after cataract surgery.
The patient should use the prescribed drops and ointment for several weeks, and the eye must be closed for only one day.
Follow-up examinations are scheduled 24 hours after surgery, 7 days after surgery and 2-3 weeks after surgery. After only 10 days with uncomplicated ablations, the patient can return to daily activities.
For the first 10 days after the operation, it is necessary to rest, ie to act in accordance with the obtained postoperative instructions.
After the operation, reading, working on a laptop, or watching television with the other eye is allowed.
The full spectrum of vitreoretinal surgery is offered, including:
– Hyphema (blood in the anterior chamber)
– Certain types of secondary glaucoma
– Antiglaucoma-shunt (Ahmed) implantation
– Scleral patching
– Complicated issues related to the crystalline lens
– Secondary intraocular lens implantation (including iris-clip lens)
– Iris reconstruction (functional or cosmetic)
– Complete anterior segment reconstruction (functional or cosmetic)
– Vitreous opacities (from floaters to hemorrhage)
– Uveitis
– Intraocular tumors (biopsy / removal)
– Any trauma involving the anterior or posterior segment
– Retinal detachment, including complicated cases such as proliferative vitreoretinopathy
– Macular diseases – diabetic macular edema*
– macular pucker
– macular hole
– vitreomacular traction syndrome
– Diabetic retinopathy, including nonproliferative and proliferative ones (panretinal laser
retinopexy included)
– Submacular hemorrhage
*One surgery has a ~80% chance of eliminating the need for multipler intraocular injections
Minor surgical procedures
Minor Surgical Procedures belong to the group of procedures on the anterior segment of the eye:
- removing the Pterygium (“front barbell” or “bird wing”) from the surface of the cornea and conjunctiva of the eye
- Removal of growths on the conjunctiva of the eye
- surgical treatment of acute and chronic eyelid infections (barley and others)
- surgical treatment of eyelid tumor changes