Eye surgery

General information

Eye surgery can be considered as a therapy if visual aids and eye medicines can no longer help to improve the symptoms.
They are therefore considered a last resort to alleviate visual impairment or cure a serious eye disease.

The most common eye surgery currently performed is cataract surgery (cataract), which is carried out around 600,000 times a year in Germany.

Surgical ophthalmology is now moving in the direction of more sophisticated and gentle methods. A high-precision laser will therefore increasingly replace the scalpel in the future.

Operation cataract

The so-called ECCE operation stands for extracapsular cataract extraction. The cloudy lens is replaced by an artificial lens.
During this operation on the eye, the surgeon does a small incision on the edge of the cornea set. A micro-forceps is inserted through this anterior chamber inserted and then with her a hole in the anterior lens capsule cut.

With Ultrasonic (Phacoemulsification) he will cloudy lens nucleus liquefiesrather the surgeon sucks it off through a cannula necessary artificial lens is then fitted into the hollowed-out capsule of the eye. Because part of the lens capsule is left in place, the vitreous body can be prevented from falling forward, which can be a complication of a complete lens replacement.

Strabismus surgery

At the Squint stand the Eyeballs in a wrong visual axisso it too Double vision and other visual impairments can come. This malalignment can usually be corrected by surgical intervention:
Of the muscle, which pulls the eyeball in the opposite direction than the squint, is shortened during this eye operation, so that the pulling force is increased and the eyeball is stabilized in the physiological visual axis. In some cases, over- or undercorrection can occur, so that a new intervention is necessary.

Operations glaucoma

If the pathologically increased intraocular pressure (glaucoma) cannot be controlled with medication, the eyesight of the affected eye can only be maintained through an eye operation.

With this so-called "Filtering intervention“Will that too much aqueous humor produced is diverted through an artificial opening in the dermis. This operation permanently lowers intraocular pressure.
Another possibility for glaucoma is that Laser operation (Argon laser trabeculoplasty), which, however, only causes improved aqueous humor outflow in 50% of patients and only lasts for about two years.

Operations retina

This can peel off around holes or tears in the retina. By means of ring-shaped frost stimuli (with a so-called cryoprobe) or burns (with a laser), the subsequent scarring can fix the retina to the choroid.
If there is extensive retinal detachment, this can be treated by surgically indenting the eyeball. For this purpose, the eyeball is constricted with a cerclage (silicone tape) or a silicone foam seal is sewn onto the dermis of the eye from the outside. This indentation causes the retina (retina) again on its pigment layer and can grow with it.

If the retina is detached, the vitreous humor may have to be partially or completely removed by suction, because if it shrinks too quickly and pulls the retina, it can tear and lead to blindness.

The inside of the eye can be filled with heavy liquids such as silicone oil so that the retina is pressed against the pigment layer from within.

Read more on the topic: Surgery for a retinal detachment

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Corneal transplant

In the event of irreparable scarring or injuries to the Cornea is a Replacement of the cornea of the eye necessary to restore vision. Deceased Organ donors the cornea is removed and then the transplanted into affected patients. This operation is also called Keratoplasty designated.

Laser treatments

Most modern Laser surgical techniques called "Laser epithelial keratomileusis“ (LASEK) and "Laser in-situ keratomileusis“ (LASIK) are used to the inside of the cornea with an excimer laser grind off, until the normal refractive power and thus the vision of the eye is restored.

LASEK is used to make a Myopia to minus six diopters and a Far-sightedness up to plus three diopters to correct. Likewise, a Astigmatism up to plus or minus three dioptres treated with LASEK.

LASIK is used in the same disease areas, but according to the latest findings it can also be used for myopia down to minus ten dioptres.

Photodynamic Therapy

Through the photodynamic therapy can the early, moist form of macular degeneration (AMD) delay. In this disease, grow leaky vessels in the yellow spot the retina and damage the yellow spot Edema (Fluid retention). As a result, the region of sharpest vision is restricted and the macula (place of sharpest vision on the retina) gradually disappears.
In photodynamic therapy (PDT), the doctor determines a certain Dye injected into the arm vein. This accumulates in the proliferating retinal vessels and do it like that sensitive to the otherwise low-energy laser radiation. The vessels heated in this way become empty and the edema goes away. Most of the time, however, treatment must several times at intervals of two to three months be performed.

Vitreous suction

If it's too Vitreous hemorrhage comes, which no longer dissolve of their own accord, must drastic step one Vitreous suction (Vitrectomy) to restore vision. Likewise is in some eye operations on the retina partial or total removal of the vitreous humor necessary to make room for the operation.
In the long term, the aspirated vitreous by a body-like, clear liquid (Ringer's solution or silicone oil) or replaced by a gas.
However, the complication of this operation is long-term gradual clouding of the lens of the eye.

Amputations of the eye

If that Eye incurable from a tumor is affected, the eyeball must be removed quickly to prevent the tumor from spreading to the eye socket. Likewise can severe accidental injuries a Amputation of the eye (Exenteratio bulbi) make necessary to avoid drastic inflammatory reactions.