A case of cataract surgery using phacoemulsification in a 12-year-old poodle

Abstract

Cataracts have been reported to be associated with various risk factors such as age, environment, genetics, diabetes mellitus, uveitis, trauma and nutritional status, and this eye disease is characterized by the cloudiness or opacity of the eye lens or the capsule bag. Based on the location of opacity, cataracts are generally classified into nuclear cataracts affecting the lens nucleus, cortical cataracts affecting the lens cortex, anterior subcapsular cataracts affecting the front portion of the capsular bag, and posterior subcapsular cataracts affecting the back portion of the capsular bag. In addi-tion, in terms of the degree of opacity, cataract maturity is classified into four stages: incipient, immature, mature, and hypermature (Christine et al, 2011). Cataract surgery has been performed mainly on human eyes, and it has become a commonly used surgical procedure since PHACO was introduced in 1967 (Park et al, 2022). In recent years, the incidence of cataracts in dogs has also been increasing, and these circumstances indicate the need to introduce excellent equipment and perform PHACO in the field of veterinary medicine as in cataract surgery for human patients. A previous study reported that good clinical results were not obtained in 45 out of 290 dogs that underwent cataract surgery, show-KJVS