Cataracts cannot be removed with a laser, only through a surgical incision. In cataract surgery, the cloudy lens is removed from the eye. In most cases, the focusing power of the natural lens is restored by replacing it with a permanent intraocular lens implant. Cataract surgery is usually fast, comfortable, and quite successful. Surgery can and ususally is performed as outpatient surgery.
Anesthesia consists of minimal sedation and a local block for comfort.
The surgery usually takes less than 15 minutes. You return home in less than two hours total and may resume normal activity almost immediately. Cataracts are never removed with lasers. The instrument is called a phacoemulsifier and is not a laser. In phacoemulsification, sound waves gently break up the cataract and it is removed from the eye.