YAG Laser Capsulotomy London
What is YAG laser Capsulotomy?
YAG laser Capsulotomy (or Yttrium Aluminum Garnet laser Capsulotomy) is a non-invasive laser procedure used to treat Posterior capsular opacification (PCO) after cataract surgery.
Posterior capsular opacification (PCO) is a common occurrence after cataract surgery (approximately 1 in 4), with the duration of its occurrence varying from person to person. On average, PCO can occur between 3months to 5 years post-cataract surgery. Laser treatment after cataract surgery is usually required when vision loss due to PCO starts impacting your day-to-day life. YAG laser eye surgery is performed under topical anesthesia (anaesthetic eye drops) by an ophthalmologist and is a relatively short procedure that takes about 5-10 minutes.
Why do you need YAG laser treatment after cataract surgery?
The lens of our eye is enclosed inside a capsular membrane. When the lens starts getting opacified with age or other conditions leading to cataracts, the ophthalmologist removes the cataract surgically, leaving the back layer of the capsule intact. The capsular membrane is important because it ensures the new artificial lens sits in the same natural anatomic place of your natural lens that had become cloudy (cataract).
In some eyes after cataract surgery, the capsular membrane can become opacified, leading to progressively cloudy vision. This is called posterior capsular opacification, or PCO.
If PCO is significant, YAG laser eye surgery is often recommended by eye doctors. However, whether you need laser treatment after cataract surgery or not can only be ascertained after some preliminary round of tests by your eye doctor.
Indicative symptoms for YAG laser eye surgery
Prior to YAG laser eye surgery, posterior capsular opacification may present as blurred vision, halos around light, double vision in one eye, problematic night vision (e.g. glare), etc.
Doctors may also advise you for a YAG procedure if your quality of life is not improving with glasses because of the effect of opacification. Sometimes, blurred vision causes more problems when the operated eye is the only good eye of the patient. Therefore, timely laser of the opacification becomes more important to preserve the vision of the functioning eye. If you are facing any of these symptoms, it’s time to consult a good clinic in London to start the treatment immediately.
After the YAG procedure, you may experience symptoms of floaters, i.e., black or sometimes transparent spots floating in your vision. These symptoms tend to settle over the coming days or weeks. The risk of significant complications leading to vision loss is rare.
Diagnostics Procedures
Usually, your cataract surgery documents are enough to give the surgeon an idea about your A.scan and other pertinent diagnostic evaluations. But sometimes, when the PCO is exceptionally dense, making it difficult to assess the retina behind it, it becomes important to perform a high-definition ultrasound scan (B-Scan) to have an overall idea about the general health of the back of the eye before proceeding forward for laser treatment after cataract surgery.
YAG procedure
Irrespective of the clinic you go for in London, the YAG procedure starts with topical anesthetic eye drops being instilled in the eye. You will sit on a special laser machine followed by an adjustment of your head along with the headrest and chinrest of the machine. This may sound like a trivial matter, but proper positioning will enable the optimum application of the laser pulses during the procedure. YAG laser is an outpatient procedure that requires almost no prepping except for the drops instillation and hands sterilization before the treatment. The laser itself takes about 5 to 10 minutes, during which the beams will be accurately applied to the cloudy capsule behind the IOL. After completion of the laser, eye drops may need to be instilled in your eyes.
Some patients may worry about pain during or after YAG laser treatment, but both the procedure and recovery period should be painless. You are advised to talk to an experienced eye surgeon in London to understand how painless the process is.
Source URL: https://harleyvision.com/procedures/yag-laser-capsulotomy-london/
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