The cataract surgery in children

As in the cases of cataract in adults, the only workaround is to surgically remove the cloudy lens and replace it with an artificial one.

As in the cases of cataract in adults, the only workaround is to surgically remove the cloudy lens and replace it with an artificial one. No pharmaceutical process has succeeded so far to treat cataracts or to halt its progress.

In children, the treatment of cataract is more urgent and surgery should be planned without much delay.

Even if a small portion of the lens is cloudy and the rest of the lens is clear, the address is always the same: The whole lens should be removed because there is no way to recover the blurred part’s lucidity.

The cataract surgery is the most common surgery in ophthalmology because of the large number of cases of senile cataract. The process is exactly the same, but in infants and young children a general anesthesia is required to ensure immobility during surgery.

After a few hours and after recovering from anesthesia, the child may return to the house. Only in very young children or premature infants staying one day in hospital for observation is recommended.

With the child leaving the hospital it will have his eye covered, but the cover can be removed when he returns home. The postoperative treatment includes some eye drops that will keep the pupil in diastole and reduce postoperative inflammation.