Advances in the treatment of cataracts and presbyopia

New technologies provide efficacy and safety, one of the basic goals of medicine and ophthalmology. Surgery for cataracts and presbyopia (farsightedness) is a clear example. It is true that in recent years there has been a dramatic breakthrough and we all know a case that has taken place and soon recovered vision and could eliminate the need for glasses.

We speak of cataracts and presbyopia because, although different disorders, treatment is very similar. Cataract is the clouding of the lens, usually due to age and treatment. His surgery is to remove the lens and replace it with an intraocular lens (IOL) which may be monofocal, need glasses after surgery, or multifocal, to eliminate the need for glasses.

Presbyopia occurs in the lens moves to focus on objects up close and you need to use glasses to see them well. Although there are alternatives for treatment, the only one that is final is to remove the lens and implant an intraocular lens, multifocal always kind, since the objective is to remove the glasses.

This surgery and was being done with good results but has taken a quantum leap with the emergence of new femtosecond lasers. We have been using lasers since the early 2000s, but now with femtosecond laser when it has got to be much more accurate and provide greater security to our patients.

Experts believe that with the femtosecond laser, along with new intraocular lenses trifocal and drugs that adjust the size of the pupil to regulate the amount of light that reaches the retina, the "puzzle" that allows us to offer complete maximum efficacy and safety glasses to eliminate in patients with cataracts and presbyopia.