Drugs are given to help the patient relax, and anesthesia is injected around the eye. After a small incision is made on the side of the eye, an instrument is inserted through the incision, and the cloudy lens is removed and replaced with one of clear plastic. The incision is then closed, but sometimes it is so tiny, sutures are not even needed. The actual surgery takes 15 to 30 minutes, so that from the time a patient is given the anaesthesia to the time she is wheeled out of the room, about 45 minutes to an hour has elapsed. Surgery used to be delayed until people were almost blind, but people can now have the cataract removed as soon as they notice a loss of vision.
Surgery is appropriate when people can no longer do with ease what they normally do.
However, if clouding in the eye caused by cataracts is not causing a vision loss that interferes with life, surgery may not be necessary. People should have a cataract removed when it begins to interfere with their normal activities. The second lens can be operated on if it begins to cause a similar vision loss as the first. We are brilliant at treating cataracts, but we don't know that much about how to prevent them. Antioxidant vitamins may be helpful in prevention.