Clear Lens Extraction
Also Known as Refractive Lens Exchange or Presbyopic Correcting IOL Exchange, this eye procedure may help people with the following vision conditions:
- Presbyopia: The inability to maintain a clear image (focus) as objects are moved closer. Presbyopia is due to reduced elasticity of the lens with increasing age.
- Nearsightedness: The inability to see distant objects as clearly as near objects. Nearsightedness, or myopia, occurs when light entering the eye focuses in front of the retina instead of directly on it.
- Farsightedness: Farsighted individuals have short eyes and have problems seeing up-close before the age of 40. The light of distant objects focuses behind the retina, and these images are blurred. Eventually, their distance vision also starts to blur as they age.
About Clear Lens Extraction
Advancements in cataract surgery have led to new technologies in lens replacement surgery designed to correct refractive error. As a result, clear lens extraction is very similar to cataract surgery but has multiple benefits that extend well beyond. Clear Lens Extraction is a vision correction procedure intended to reduce or eliminate the need for glasses or contacts for people over the age of 40. Clear lens exchange may be a better procedure for someone who is considering LASIK who is also over the age of 40. For such patients, clear lens extraction (CLE) is an excellent option worthy of serious consideration.
Like cataract surgery, this procedure involves removing the natural lens of the eye and replacing it with an intraocular lens (IOL) implant, which can be either a multifocal IOL implant, a phakic IOL, or an accommodating IOL. Please consult our doctors to determine what IOL is right for you and your unique vision.
Other types of refractive surgery, such as LASIK laser vision correction, accomplish good vision by changing the shape of your cornea. Unlike these other refractive procedures that change the shape of the cornea, CLE corrects vision by removing the natural lens in the eye and replacing it with a new artificial lens of different focusing power. This is exactly the same process used during cataract surgery. Cataract surgery is currently one of the top procedures reimbursed by Medicare, and millions of cataracts are removed every year.
Advantages of Clear Lens Extraction
- Relatively fast recovery
- Excellent predictability of the outcome
- Excellent eye care services and quality of vision
- Maybe better than LASIK for people over 40 years old
- Similar procedure to cataract surgery
