What is Eye Surgery?
Also referred to as Ocular surgery, the eye surgery is performed on the eye by an Ophthalmologist. The need for an eye surgery depends on many conditions. All the treatments ranging from corrective treatments to orbital implants, provides a successful solution to eye and vision problems.
Types of Eye Surgery
Cataract Surgery
The condition of cataract affects both eyes and occurs more in adults who have crossed the age of 60. The cataract surgery procedure is very successful and safe procedure. The surgery is recommended for those who are having vision loss that is hampering their daily life. The surgery is not advisable for those who are having other eye diseases. The surgery takes about thirty minutes and is performed under minimal sedation. During the surgical procedure, an artificial lens is inserted in place of the original in order to restore vision.
The 3 approaches of the cataract surgery are –
- Extracapsular Cataract Surgery : The surgical procedure is performed when the lens is too opaque for Phacoemulsification. The surgery involves suturing and the recovery period is longer.
- Intracapsular Cataract Surgery : The surgical procedure involves making big incisions and total removal of surrounding capsule and entire lens. This method is very rarely used.
- Phacoemulsification : The surgical procedure is performed under local anesthesia. The most common type of cataract surgery, ultrasonic vibrations are used to dissolve the hazy lens by inserting a probe.
Corrective Surgery :
This the most common and most popular eye surgery. PRK (Photorefractive keratectomy) and LASIK (laser-assisted in Situ Keratomileusis) are the two common corrective eye surgery methods. Hyperopia, Astigmatism and Myopia can be corrected by laser eye surgery. It also eliminates the use of corrective lenses.
- PRK is recommended for those who have thin corneas that poses difficulty the creation of a flap.
- LASIK is the most popularly performed and precision laser is used for the removal of corneal tissue. The laser reshapes the cornea to modify its level of focus.
Orbital Surgery :
The surgery is meant for enucleation, evisceration and anopthalmia conditions. The orbital surgery is recommended for those people who have large eye tumors, congenital defects that leads in absent eyes and the eye that cannot be protected due to trauma. Silicone or bioceramic orbital implants and orbital tissue expander are the two orbital implants. These orbital implants are the surgical approaches for performing the procedure. The role of orbital implant is to protect the natural structure of the eye. It also provides support for positioning an artificial eye.
Glaucoma Surgery :
The glaucoma leads in vision loss and increases the intraocular pressure. The surgery is performed to reduce the intraocular pressure. The surgery can be performed multiple times and involves low risk. Types of glaucoma surgery are –
- Conventional Surgery : The surgery involves making a new drainage canal so as to allow the intraocular fluid to drain out of the eye.
- Laser Surgery : The surgery involves making a little opening in the drainage system of the eye with the help of laser. This helps in increasing the draining the fluid of the eye.
Lip Repair Surgery
The surgery can be done either for functional or cosmetic reasons. The condition of droopy eyelids (ptosis) is treated with lid repair surgery. Fasanella-Servat, Frontalis suspension (severe congenital cases), Muller’s muscle-conjunctival resection (mild to moderate ptosis) and Blepharoplasty (ptosis due to aging) are the surgeries included in Ptosis surgery.
Presbyopia Surgery
The condition of Presbyopia starts in between the age group of 40-50. The condition when there is an inability of the eye to focus at all distances. The condition can be noticed when the person starts finding the print blurred. The stiffening of the lens of the eye can be a cause of Presbyopia condition. Presbyopia is also assumed to be connected with atrophy of the muscles that controls the lens or the development of the lens. The correction of Presbyopia involves creating ‘monovision’ at the time of LASIK. This common vision condition can also be corrected by using conductive keratoplasty.
Squint Eye
When both the eyes are not pointing in the same direction then it is known as squint. I can either have a convergent squint (turn in) or divergent squint (turn out). The vertical squint is the condition where one eye is either lower or higher than the other eye. The squint can be either continuous or occasional. Premature babies build up a squint who have been sick at a very early age, specifically when the damaged is caused to the brain. The reasons for the development of these squints are –
- Due to poor vision, the brain is not able to use both the eyes together.
- The poor vision in only one eye especially in childhood in the requirement of using glasses. The one could be myopic (short-sighted), astigmatism (abnormal shape of the front of the eye) or hypermetropic (long-sighted).
- The condition of the scar on the front or cataract can be the reason of poor eye. It is also very rare that one eye has not developed properly due to problem in the optic nerve or retina.
- A squint can develop rarely in short-sighted and largely in long-sighted. The children with long-sightedness develops convergent squint as they use more force to focus.
- Another reason could be abnormal development of the muscles or nerves which is controlling the movement of the eye.
Refractive Eye Surgery
Hyperopia (farsightedness), presbyopia, myopia (nearsightedness) and astigmatism are the refractive errors that can be treated with refractive surgery. The surgery improves and corrects the vision by eliminating the refractive errors. The surgery is done to increase the focus of the eye by creating a clear circular dome in front of the eye. It can also be done by reshaping the cornea.
Eye Cancer
A cancer that develops in the eye is known as eye cancer. It is the condition where several tumors develop in different parts of the eye. The development of the tumor starts when the cells in and around the eye grows and changes uncontrollably by forming a mass or tumor. The tumor can be both cancerous and non-cancerous. Intraocular malignancy is the cancer that develops in the eyeball.
Intraocular Cancer Types
Uveal metastases are known as the most common type of intraocular cancer in adults that spreads to uvea from the other place in the body. The most common primary intraocular cancer seen in adults is Melanoma. The reason of development of this cancer is the uncontrollable growth of melanocytes (pigmented cells) in the eye. Uveal melanoma is the other name of intraocular melanoma.
The other types of cancers are –
- Retinoblastoma
- Conjunctival Melanoma
- Lacrimal Gland Tumor
- Intraocular Lymphoma
- Eyelid Carcinoma
- Hemangioma
Cost of Eye Surgery
The cost of eye surgery in India is very affordable. All the hospitals use latest technologies in eye care surgeries and provides maximum benefits to the patients.