Cataract surgery: procedure guide
The clouded natural lens is removed and replaced with an intraocular lens. It is the treatment for cataract, and the lens chosen during it is also what determines the reading and distance correction afterwards.
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Quick answer
The clouded natural lens is removed and replaced with an intraocular lens. It is the treatment for cataract, and the lens chosen during it is also what determines the reading and distance correction afterwards.
General educational information about a subject, not an assessment of your own eyes. Suitability and treatment decisions are made by a qualified ophthalmologist who has examined you.
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Cataract surgery
The clouded natural lens is removed and replaced with an intraocular lens. It is the treatment for cataract, and the lens chosen during it is also what determines the reading and distance correction afterwards.
Also known as lens replacement, phacoemulsification
Questions about Cataract surgery
Each answer below is the short version; the question links to the page that carries it in full, with sources.
- What is a cataract?
A cataract is clouding of the natural lens inside the eye, which scatters light and reduces the sharpness and contrast of vision. It develops gradually and is a normal part of ageing for many people.
- When should cataract surgery be considered?
Cataract surgery is considered when the effect on your vision has become significant enough to affect what you need or want to do, and when you understand the benefits and risks.
- Is cataract surgery painful?
Cataract surgery is usually performed with anaesthetic drops and sometimes additional sedation, and it is generally described as painless with some awareness of light and movement.
- How long does cataract surgery take?
The operation itself usually takes a short time, and the visit as a whole takes longer. It is usually done as a day case, without an overnight stay.
- How long does cataract recovery take?
Vision often improves within days of cataract surgery, and the eye continues to settle over several weeks. Restrictions on lifting, swimming and eye rubbing are typically in place for a period afterwards.
- What are the different types of lens implants?
Intraocular lenses are broadly grouped into monofocal lenses, which focus at one distance, multifocal and extended depth of focus lenses, which spread the focus over a range, and toric versions of each, which correct astigmatism.
- How much does cataract surgery cost in Dubai?
Cataract surgery in Dubai is priced per clinic and depends heavily on the intraocular lens chosen, so a single figure would be misleading. The lens is usually the largest variable in the total.
- Does insurance cover cataract surgery in the UAE?
Cataract surgery is more likely to be covered than elective laser vision correction, because it treats a diagnosed condition. Cover still depends on your specific policy, its exclusions and its pre-authorisation rules.
- Can cataracts come back after surgery?
A cataract cannot come back, because the lens has been replaced. Some people do develop clouding of the capsule behind the new lens months or years later, which is treated with a short laser procedure.
- What is a monofocal lens?
A monofocal intraocular lens focuses at a single set distance, usually chosen for clear distance vision, so glasses are typically still needed for reading.
- What is a multifocal lens?
A multifocal intraocular lens provides focus at more than one distance at the same time, which reduces dependence on glasses for near and intermediate vision.
- What is an EDOF lens?
An extended depth of focus lens stretches a single focal region over a range of distances rather than creating separate focal points. It is often described as a middle position between monofocal and multifocal designs.
All 42 Cataract & lens surgery questions, searchable
Related subjects
- Cataract
The natural lens becomes cloudy, so vision loses contrast and sharpness. It is treated by replacing the lens, and the lens chosen at that point is what decides reading and distance correction afterwards.
- Blurred vision
Vision that is soft or unclear. It has many causes, from an uncorrected prescription to a change inside the eye, and only an examination can say which one applies.
- Halos and glare
Rings or streaks of light around sources at night. It is commonly reported after refractive surgery, usually improves over the first months, and can also come from cataract.
- Refractive lens exchange (RLE)
The natural lens is replaced with an intraocular lens for a refractive reason rather than because of cataract. It is a lens procedure, so it is the option that reaches prescriptions no corneal procedure can.
- Cataract lens options
Monofocal, multifocal, extended depth of focus and toric lenses, compared on what each does with reading vision, night vision and astigmatism, and what each leaves you still needing glasses for.
- Dubai
The emirate where most of the UAE refractive surgery capacity is, and the one most international patients travel to. Licensing, clinic choice and what a quote should contain are the local questions.
- Cataract surgery in Dubai
Cataract surgery replaces the eye's clouded lens with an artificial one. In Dubai it is treated as the treatment of a diagnosed condition, which is what separates it from elective refractive surgery.
- Cataract surgery in the UAE
Cataract surgery is available across the Emirates and usually treated as medical care rather than as an elective choice, which is what most often separates it from laser vision correction.
- Medication and eye drops
Antibiotic and anti-inflammatory drops after surgery, and lubricants for as long as the surface needs them. Commonly excluded from a headline price and rarely expensive, but it is a real line.
- Follow-up appointments
The scheduled checks after surgery. A quote that includes them and a quote that does not are not comparable, and the second is usually where a low headline price was bought.
- Eye treatment in Dubai on a trip
For a reader weighing the UAE as a place to have an eye treated rather than a particular operation: what is available to visitors, what a trip involves, and what decides whether it is worth making.
This page describes what is generally true about cataract surgery. It is not a diagnosis, and it cannot say whether a treatment is suitable for you, because suitability depends on measurements taken during an examination.
Sources & further reading
We prefer primary sources. Where a claim comes from a manufacturer, a single study or a regulator, it is labelled as such below.
- Cataracts in adults: management (NG77) Clinical reference National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (UK) · 2017
Clinical guidance on when cataract surgery is indicated, what should be discussed before it, and what follow-up is expected.
Used for When cataract surgery is considered appropriate rather than cosmetic timing; What patients should be told before cataract surgery.
Link checked 23 September 2026
- EyeSmart: eye health information for the public Patient information American Academy of Ophthalmology
Patient-facing material from the largest ophthalmology professional body, covering conditions, tests and treatments outside refractive surgery.
Used for Cross-checking patient-facing explanations of non-refractive eye conditions; Describing what tests such as dilation and OCT involve.
Link checked 23 September 2026
- Eye Health Information Patient information National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health (US)
Condition-by-condition eye health information from a US government research institute, written for patients rather than for clinicians.
Used for Plain-language explanations of eye conditions and their symptoms; Healthy vision and screening guidance.
Link checked 23 September 2026
- Laser In Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK) Clinical reference StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf
The equivalent clinical reference chapter for LASIK, used so that comparisons describe both procedures symmetrically.
Used for How LASIK creates and manages a corneal flap; LASIK complication categories.
Link checked 22 September 2026
- Cochrane Library Peer-reviewed literature Cochrane
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Useful for readers who want to know how strong the pooled evidence is, not just what one trial found.
Used for Helping readers judge the strength of the evidence base.
Link checked 22 September 2026
- UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention Health authority Ministry of Health and Prevention, United Arab Emirates
The federal health authority for the UAE, relevant to facilities licensed outside the Dubai Health Authority system.
Used for Explaining which authority licenses which facility.
Link checked 22 September 2026
- Health regulatory authorities in the United Arab Emirates Health authority The Official Portal of the UAE Government
The UAE government’s own listing of the federal health authority and of the emirate-level health authorities, naming which part of the country each one covers.
Used for Explaining that more than one authority licenses healthcare in the UAE; Explaining which body to approach about a licensed facility.
Link checked 24 September 2026