When you and Dr Khalil decide to to undergo cataract operation, you will be faced with several choices. While cataract surgery has advanced tremendously in recent years, most of the advances have had to do with transformation of cataract surgery from a medical procedure to a refractive procedure. Cataract surgery can now allow patients to completely eliminate dependence on glasses for distance, near and/or intermediate.
 

There are a variety of  intraocular lenses (IOLs) that can be used in cataract surgery, and they each have their own set of advantages and disadvantages. No single IOL works best for everyone. Dr Khalil will discuss with you which intraocular lens options and vision enhancements are available for your particular case. Dr Khalil will help you make the best decision for your case, taking into account your lifestyle demands and hobbies as well and any other limitations. At the time of cataract surgery other procedures can be performed simultaneously to eliminate and/or reduce Astigmatism, presbyopia, Farsightedness and Nearsightedness

 

Monofocal IOLs

are used in the majority of cataract procedures. These lenses have the advantage of excellent quality distance vision under a variety of lighting conditions. Since these lenses have a fixed focal point which is generally set for distance vision, reading glasses are typically required for good near vision(1). For patients willing to use reading glasses for near tasks, these IOLs are an excellent choice. Several million lenses of this variety have been used for decades with an excellent safety record. Recent refinements in the optical quality of these lenses have allowed an even higher quality of vision than previously achievable. Basic Monofocal IOLs allow patients to see at distance, but not at near. Patients who have this kind of lens implanted will still have to utilize reading glasses,  contact lenses or monovision after surgery.

 

Monofocal lenses and Monovision: People who have worn "monovision" contacts, or who naturally have one distance eye and one focused for near are good candidates to have one eye corrected far and one for near in the selection of the implant for their cataract surgery. Glasses may still be helpful for such activities as night driving and prolonged reading.

 

Multifocal IOLs

Multifocal lenses such as the ReSTOR lens and ReZoom lens are designed to correct a full range of vision, near through distance. In clinical trials 80% of patients who had the ReSTOR lens implanted never used glasses for any activities following their surgery. These lenses have highly specialized optical properties that can divide light to bring it into focus at more than one point at the same time. This allows the eye to see both near and far, usually without glasses. Excellent results for distance and near vision have been achieved by both of these lenses which are FDA approved.