Review Article Phacoemulsification and Intraocular Lens Implantation: Recent Trends in Cataract Surgery

This review article summarizes the evolution of cataract surgery techniques and intraocular lens (IOL) implantation. It emphasizes the necessity of appropriate patient selection for the surgery and precise surgical technique for successful outcome of this procedure in dogs. The history of cataract surgery, factors critical for good outcome of the procedure, timing of surgery, preoperative medication, phacoemulsification technique and types of implanted intraocular lenses are discussed. Cataract, phacoemulsification, intraocular lens, dog Cataract (Plate XIII, Fig. 1) is a leading cause of unilateral and more often bilateral blindness in dogs. The only effective mean of its treatment is surgery – extraction of diseased lens (Dziezyc 1990) and its replacement by an artificial intraocular lens (IOL = “intraocular lens”). The opinions on cataract surgery have been changing continually with advancement of the procedure. The success rate of cataract surgery has risen significantly during last decades, especially thanks to development of more precise microsurgical techniques and with introduction of phacoemulsification (Boldy 1988; Dziezyc 1990) and IOL implantation. History of cataract surger