Cataract

Surgery
Practical
Exercise

What might it be like

to live with cataracts?
 Cataract Surgery

The cataract lens which has

caused the eye to become cloudy
is replaced by a plastic lens called
an Intraocular Lens, or IOL.
 What’s an Intraocular Lens?
The Intraocular Lens
(IOL) is a small plastic
lens with plastic side
struts to hold the lens in
place when it’s implanted
into the eye.

Intraocular lenses are vital for

restoring sight to people with
cataracts.
How is the surgery performed?
• Before the surgery, the pupil of
the eye is dilated with eye drops
to expose the cloudy lens.

• The eye is numbed and unable to

move.

• The patient remains awake.

• The eye is clamped open.

• A cut is made just below the clear covering of

the iris and pupil.

• This cut will be self healing and will not

require stitching.
• The cataract lens is removed.

• An intraocular lens (IOL) will replace

it and restore the eye’s focussing
power.

• This lens will stay in the patient’s

eye for their lifetime.

• The eye is bandaged with an eye patch to

prevent infection or injury.

• The bandage will be removed within 24

hours and sight will be restored.
Patient Cataract Surgery

Watch this patient story on cataract surgery.

 Viewing sheet
Answer these questions once you have watched the patient story

1. What caused Nawere and Timwias’ blindness?

2. How has their blindness impacted their lives?

3. How has their blindness impacted their mental and

emotional health?

4. How did they feel when their sight was restored?

5. How will their lives be different now?

 Fred Hollows & Cataract Surgery
The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ uses Intraocular Lenses in their sight-
saving cataract surgeries.

But if these lenses were made in New Zealand they would cost
hundreds of dollars to manufacture.

As you have learned their founder Fred Hollows knew this and did
something about it!
 Fred Hollows & Cataract Surgery

In the last years of his life, Fred Hollows worked hard to open factories
in two developing countries. One year after he passed away, two
laboratories were opened in Eritrea and Nepal.

Fred
holding an
IOL
 Fred Hollows & Cataract Surgery

To date, the laboratories have manufactured over four million lenses that are
used locally and exported to more than 40 countries.

In some countries like the Pacific Islands and Papua New Guinea, The
Foundation can restore sight for as little as $25.
What’s the difference between a
cataract procedure in a developing
country and New Zealand?

In these countries people may be living on only a few dollars a day.

If you look at the $25 it costs for an operation as a percentage of their yearly
income it can be similar to the amount it costs in New Zealand.

To compare – the surgery costs approximately $3,500 in New Zealand, where

the average yearly income is around $50,000.
Patient stories

Link to current patient stories on

The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ website.