Question
Does surgical treatment for congenital cataracts help?
Answer
Hello, if your child has undergone cataract surgery, the specific condition of the postoperative patient will determine whether a second surgery is needed. Children with congenital cataracts are prone to amblyopia if vision development is affected, and surgery should be performed early, no later than 6 months. Complete cataracts in one or both eyes, or those located centrally in the visual axis with obvious opacity, should be operated on early. If both eyes have cataracts, the other eye should also be operated on within a shorter interval. If a child is diagnosed with congenital cataracts at the age of 3, surgery to implant an artificial lens is required. Congenital cataracts are commonly seen in two types: congenital and traumatic, with congenital being the most common in clinical practice. Congenital cataracts occur due to factors such as chromosomal inheritance or maternal systemic diseases that affect the embryonic development of the lens during the fetal development in the mother’s body. I personally recommend that the extracapsular cataract extraction (including phacoemulsification) combined with artificial lens implantation be used. In some cases, intracapsular cataract extraction can also be performed, and glasses or corneal contact lenses can be used for vision correction after surgery. Treatment for congenital cataracts should include lens extraction or aspiration; perform refractive correction and vision training to prevent amblyopia and promote the development of binocular function. Wishing the baby good health.