Intraocular Lens Treatment

The intraocular lens is an artificial material similar to the natural lens of the eye, used in case of impaired vision due to damage to the eye lens. For this reason, intraocular lenses, which can also be called artificial lenses, are used in the treatment of certain eye diseases, especially problems related to the eye's refraction of light and cataracts.

There are different types of intraocular lenses, and by choosing the lens that is suitable for the person's eye defects and diseases, the lens can be replaced in the eye with the help of a simple surgical operation. In this way, there is no need to use glasses or contact lenses, and even eye diseases such as advanced cataracts that cannot be completely eliminated can be treated.

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What is an Intraocular Lens?

An intraocular lens is an artificial lens that is made of a transparent plastic-like material and is approximately one-third the size of an average coin. These lenses are commonly used for the treatment of deterioration of the health of the eye lens or focusing problems in the eye.

They are contact lenses, which is a close term that is often confused with intraocular lenses. However, intraocular lens means artificial eye lens and is placed surgically, unlike contact lenses that can be attached and removed externally. The natural lens of the eye ensures that the rays coming into the eye from outside focus on the retina. For this reason, removal of the eye lens in surgeries such as cataract treatment causes a significant decrease of 30% in the focusing power of the eye. To prevent this situation, the removed eye lens is replaced with an intraocular lens during the surgical operation. As a result, the focusing power of the eye is regained and problems such as blurred vision that may arise from a defective eye lens are eliminated.

To Whom Is Intraocular Lens Treatment Applied?

Intraocular Lens surgery is one of the treatment methods that can be preferred for multiple eye diseases. The most common application areas are as follows:

• Advanced cases where LASIK treatment is not applied in the treatment of eye defects caused by problems with the eye refracting light, such as myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism.
• Cataract in individuals over 45 years of age. Treatments of patients who do not have glasses or contact lenses but want to get rid of them
• Treatments of patients who need cataract surgery due to cataracts and whose eye structure is suitable for intraocular lens placement
• Treatments of patients who are damaged due to trauma to the eyes operations related to replacement of the eye lens

What are the Types of Intraocular Lenses?

The types of intraocular lenses basically depend on whether the individual has an astigmatism defect or not. They can be examined in two main groups: lenses (astigmatism corrector) and standard lenses. Apart from this, standard lenses that do not have astigmatism correcting feature are of three different types according to their optical properties: monofocal, bifocal and trifocal lenses. Operation planning can be started after determining which of the intraocular lens types, which have different features, is suitable for the patient's eye health and structure.

Single Focus (Monofocal) Intraocular Lenses

The most common type of intraocular lenses used in the surgical treatment of cataract disease are monofocal single vision lenses. When intraocular lenses are monofocal, they can treat only one distance level eye defect. Single vision lenses can be adjusted for near, medium or far distance. However, monofocal lenses, which are generally adjusted to focus on distance vision, require patients to use glasses for near vision. Thanks to the focusing power of the lens, patients can see long distances clearly without glasses or with the help of small prescription glasses.

Bifocal Intraocular Lenses

Dual focus (bifocal) lenses are lenses that improve both distance and near vision functions with two different focusing points. The use of bifocal lenses may be preferred in cases where both near and far vision are negatively affected, especially due to the condition called presbyopia seen in older ages.

Trifocal (Trifocal) Intraocular Lenses

Trifocal intraocular lenses, also known as smart lenses, have three different focal points to be effective at near, medium and far distances. In trifocal lenses, which act as three different interlocking lenses, the first focus is for long distance, the second focus is for middle distance, which allows conversation or computer use, and the third focus, for close distance, allows viewing distances such as reading newspapers or knitting, without glasses or with small prescription glasses. In trifocal lens types, which can offer an effective treatment for patients with suitable eye structure and health, it may take a little longer for the eye to adapt to the lens after the operation compared to other lenses.

Toric Lenses

Toric lenses are intraocular lenses specially produced to improve vision in people with astigmatism problems in their eyes. Astigmatism patients have refractive error and blurred vision at all distances due to irregular curvatures in the cornea or eye lens. Toric lenses are a specially structured intraocular lens type that solves this problem, and the intraocular lenses placed in astigmatism patients must have toric lens properties. There are monofocal, bifocal and trifocal types of toric lenses depending on the number of focuses, and you can choose among them according to the patient's vision problems.

How is Intraocular Lens Surgery Performed?

As a result of a detailed eye examination, an operation to place an intraocular lens can be planned for patients with an appropriate profile, after taking into account many details such as the existing eye defects in the patients, the depths of the eye layers, and the progression charts of the eye defects. Before the surgery, patients are administered local anesthesia or general anesthesia, depending on the situation. Therefore, there is no feeling of pain. Then, a micro-sized incision is made on the cornea. The eye lens is accessed through the incision and the lens is removed from the incision in pieces. Then, the intraocular lens, whose type is determined and specially prepared for the patient, is placed into the eye through the same incision. In intraocular surgery, which does not involve any stitching, healing will occur on its own over time. After the operation is completed in a short time, patients can usually leave the healthcare institution that performed the operation within a few hours. In rare cases, if general anesthesia is applied, you may be advised to stay in the hospital for one day as a precaution.

Healing Process After Intraocular Lens Surgery

Effects felt by the patient after lens surgery. Although it is quite minimal, a healing period of approximately 8-12 weeks should be expected for complete healing and vision to reach the target level. Some issues that patients should pay attention to after surgery include:

• Intense exposure of the eye to light should be avoided. Whenever possible, one should not go out without wearing sunglasses, and care should be taken to ensure that the environment is dark while sleeping at night.
• Itching and tearing problems may occur in the eyes. However, the eyes should never be scratched or rubbed.
• Drugs and eye drops prescribed for use after the operation should be used without interruption.
• Exercise and potentially harmful behaviors such as carrying heavy loads should be avoided until the time deemed appropriate by the doctor. .