About cataract surgery

Before the 1970s, most surgeons performed cataract surgery with the naked eye or with the aid of loupes--specialized glasses that provide a small amount of magnification. Today, microsurgery is the rule: An operating microscope is placed over the eye undergoing surgery.

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If both eyes have cataracts that require surgery, they are most often operated on one at a time, with at least several weeks--and more often months--between the two operations.

Cataract surgery usually takes less than an hour to perform. About 90 percent of the surgeries are done on an outpatient basis with a local anesthetic, given either by injection or eyedrops. (General anesthesia is used only in people who are extremely anxious or allergic to local anesthetics.) Patients often are given a sedative before the surgery to make them drowsy.