Cataract Surgery

Qualifying for the procedure

Pre-operative Assessment

The initial Pre-operative Assessment is conducted by the Clinical Optometrist who will determine your suitability for the procedure.  It will also determine which technique you may be suitable for.

Hard contact lenses must not be worn for a minimum of 3 weeks and soft contact lenses for 5 days prior to the assessment. Glasses can be worn during this time and hard contact lens wearers can swap over to soft contact lenses for two weeks and then leave these out for one week if that is more convenient. Our friendly staff will confirm these arrangements with you. This is necessary to achieve accurate results, which then impact on surgical results.

If testing is done more than 6 months before surgery it will be necessary to do a refraction check prior to the procedure.

What is involved?

The initial pre-operative appointment is conducted by the Clinical Optometrist who will determine your suitability for the procedure. It will also determine which technique you may be suitable for.

  • Overview of the procedure by our technical and optometric staff
  • Auto-refraction and keratometry (computerised assessment of spectacle prescription and eye shape)
  • Pupil assessment
  • Corneal topography (computerised assessment of the corneal contours) allowing determination of suitability for laser refractive surgery
  • Pachymetry (a computerised corneal thickness measurement) allowing determination of suitability for laser refractive surgery
  • Refraction/Prescription measurement for both distance and near
  • Eye movement and coordination assessment
  • Slit lamp examination of the eye

Once suitability is established a Refractive Interview appointment is scheduled with the Surgeon. This appointment involves:

  • Retinal health examination
  • Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)
  • Discussion of procedure, benefits and risks
  • A surgical plan being developed and discussed with you

Note: The retinal health examination and OCT may be performed at either the Optometrist Appointment or the Refractive Interview with the Surgeon. To allow a full assessment of the retina it is advisable to have your pupils dilated. As this will blur your vision and prevent you from driving for a minimum of 2-4 hours, you will need to make suitable transport arrangements.

To arrange a Pre-operative Assessment or to speak to one of Adelaide Eye & Laser Centre's friendly staff, please contact us on 1300 366 564 or online here.