| [ Summary ] |
Cataracts are an ophthalmic condition resulting in lens opacity, causing decreased lens transparency which results in impaired visual acuity. Although surgery is usually indicated for cataracts, there are several problems with this surgery for dialysis patients: 1) necessity of dialysis during hospital stay for surgery, 2) tendency to bleed, 3) difficulty with general management, and 4) complications from diabetic retinopathy. At our institution, these problems were mostly over come by a new surgical technique using surface anesthesia and a foldable intraocular lens. Visual improvement of 2 grades or more was achieved in 82.9% of the 41 dialysis patients who underwent cataract surgery between December 1995 and December 1997. A serious complication,expulsive hemorrhaging, occurred in one patient. Although indications for surgery basically depend on the patient's condition,we perform surgery in patients with corrected visual acuity of less than 0.5. When the patient wants to drive a car, the limit can be 0.7. |