Cataract surgery without lens replacement

[larmor]

My Mom needs to have cataract surgery and she is highly myopic.  She has been told that it is difficult to find a correct replacement lens because she is so myopic.  They are considering removing the lens without a putting in a replacement.  My understanding is that she would then need corrective contacts, but she has said the doctor told her she would be able to see just fine without any correction.  Can you explain how this works as I think we are both confused?
Thank you

[Ray T Oyakawa, MD]

A lens implant is better for the eye.  It keeps the vitreous back and probably has less chance of a retinal detachment.

They have zero power and negative power iols.

Dr. O.

[jamie5663]

Dr Oyakawa, I had retina detachment surgery twice (and a 1st surgery for 3 tears - all within a 2 months period). I had an air bubble with the tears, then a gas bubble with the 1st retina detachment and now I have silicon oil for the last retina detachment (all in the same eye).  My question is - they had to remove my lens because I had developed cataracts which had developed with the surgeries.  They did not put in any lens to replace the cataract.  They said they have to wait until they remove the silicon oil.  Is this normal procedure and is it safe for my eye to not have a lens in it for a long period of time?

[JohnHaganMD]

Answered elsewhere. Dr. O no longer answers questions.

[LAGESSE3106]

My son and daughter have had multiple retina detachment‘s and have gone through all of the procedures that you mentioned. They did not remove their linens but I can tell you that it’s the oil that causes the cataract so weeding until the oil has been removed certainly makes sense to me. I hope all goes well.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Tell your mother's surgeon to search the literature. In high myopes where the formula indicates no prescription is needed 0.0  putting in a IOL with no power stablizies the eye and resulted in less retinal detachments in which no IOL was put in.. If the surgeon knows how to search the literature will come up quickly.

[ronald33]

I am about to have this surgery. LASER EYE CENTER tells me the original lens (which has become a cataract,is clouded) has to be vaporized,thus leaving a hole....which must be filled immediately with a special plastic replacement lens.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

I'm not sure there is a question there. The cataract is not vaporized.  It is broken up with ultrasound (phacoemulsiviation) and suctioned out of the eye,  if the cataract is extremely hard sometimes a laser is used to created some cracks that make it easier to phacoemulsify. In a highly myopic eye where the IOL power is zero, it is still advisable to put an IOL in the eye as it stabilizes the eye and reduces the risk of retinal detchment.

[LAGESSE3106]

Thank you for the excellent!. My son is about to have Lynn’s replacement. He has had multiple retina detachment’s due to stickler syndrome. His doctor mentioned that leaving the lens out could be an option. I will definitely press the question of increasing the risk of retina detachment with him. Thank you very much.

[Ryan266]

Doctor checked on my sister and mentioned her eye might be too small so iol lens might not be fitted into her eyes. Is there alternate iol lens like smaller size? I understand Alcon standard size is 5.5mm

[Zhong]

Thanks, Dr. Oyakawa. My both eyes are strong near-sighted (-1800). I was told by my eye doctor that my cataract surgery in April will not have lens replacement. I'm wondering how does the eye maintain the same physical structure if the cararact surgery has no lens replacement. Also worried that my eyes no longer have focus after surgery. What should I do?

Zhong

[larmor]

Thank you for your response.  If they do not put in a replacement lens will she need corrective contacts?  Is it possible to put in an iol of a lesser power if they can not find one of the proper strength, then correct with contacts?