Step-by-Step Phacoemulsification aka Cataract Surgery

Here’s what happens once you’re on the operating table:

Your surgeon administers a numbing injection or eye drops into your eye before the surgery.

You will receive additional medication to keep you relaxed throughout the procedure.

Using a blade the surgeon creates a small incision in your eye. By the time this cut is made, you will be under a form of anesthesia, so you will not feel the incision.

The surgeon inserts a tiny ultrasound device into the incision and activates it to break up the lens with the cataract.

Using a suction device, the surgeon removes the tiny lens fragments from your eye.

The doctor inserts a new lens.

Your surgeon decides whether stitches are needed to close the incision. (Most patients don’t need stitching.)

You will wear a special shield over the eye when you leave the surgery center.

After a 15 to 30 minutes of rest, you may go home.