Your Options for Cataract Surgery

Doctor Frangie is pleased to be able to offer his patients a number of choices for their implants, in an attempt to decrease dependence on spectacles and/or contact lenses, depending upon the specific characteristics of your eye.

1) SINGLE FOCUS IOL (INTRAOCULAR LENS IMPLANT) - This implant is considered the "standard" implant and its design has not significantly changed in more than a decade. Following placement, the Single Focus Implant will allow the eye to see at a single focal point (most patients see better at distance), but in order to see at intermediate (computer distance) or up close (for instance sewing or reading) the eye will require either a contact lens or glasses.

Most insurance companies pay for cataract surgery with single focus implants, subject to your carrier's specific co-pays and deductibles.

2) ASTIGMATISM-CORRECTING IOL IMPLANTS AND SURGERY - Astigmatism is typically a lifelong condition where the cornea, the outer window of the eye, has an irregular shape which prevents light from focusing accurately on the retina - even after standard cataract surgery. In patients who are candidates, astigmatism may be corrected by either specific wound construction or a Toric lens implant or both. Rarely, some patients may require an adjustment of their implant or even more rarely another procedure such as Lasik to improve their final visual outcome. If further procedures to adjust/exchange your implant or procedure to fine tune your vision are necessary, they will be done at no additional charge to you.

It is important to understand that while Astigmatism-Correcting Surgery will improve your uncorrected distance vision (and in some cases your intermediate distance vision) you will still need reading glasses for tasks that are close - sewing, reading, model-building, etc. If you will only be happy with "perfect" vision, the astigmatism correcting procedure may not be for you.

3) MULTIFOCAL IOL IMPLANTS represent a major advancement in cataract vision correction. These lenses give recipients an enhanced "range" of vision so they have reduced dependency on contact lenses or glasses at almost all distances. While these technologies represent a definite improvement, it is important to realize that the implants will not give one's eye the performance level of a normal twenty year-old eye - the implants represent an improvement, not the fountain of youth! This new generation of implants typically allows patients to drive without correction, play golf without correction, use the computer without correction and reduce the need for reading glasses.