What are the best replacement lenses for cataract surgery?

Doctor's Answer

Photo of Dr Daphne Han
Dr Daphne Han

Ophthalmologist

The intraocular lenses used for cataract surgeries can be roughly divided into 2 main groups: mononofocal vs multifocal.

Monofocal lenses have only one focusing plane, while multifocal lenses have different focusing zones with different focusing power, to allow one to have good vision at more than one distance in the same eye. Some of the newer multifocals also go by descriptions like extended range lenses.

Both mono and multifocal lenses can incorporate astigmatic correction if needed. Significant uncorrected astigmatism (astig is called 散光)contributes to blurring at all distances.

In most clinics, the standard lenses are monofocal, non-astigmatic correcting, which can already correct short and long sightedness quite well. However, some degree of residual refractive errors are expected after the cataract surgery, and generally your grandma will expect to have to wear glasses at least some of the time.

Premium lenses such as astigmatic-correcting and multifocal on the other hand should be able to provide better uncorrected vision. If your grandma hates wearing glasses, she may benefit from exploring some of these "premium lense". The exact type, design and brand of the lenses will also depend on the state of health of her eyes.

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