title: [The development of cataract surgery after 1745].
abstract: Nowadays, cataract surgery is the most commonly performed surgical procedure in the Netherlands. This is due to the increasing incidence of cataracts, the changing indication for surgery in our society where good vision is becoming increasingly important, and the quality of the operation. How was this modern procedure developed? Cataracts were treated by couching until the middle of the 18th century. Since then, many discoveries by a number of doctors changed the procedure gradually from couching to lens extraction and through extracapsular to intracapsular extraction with the simultaneous implantation of an intraocular lens. This article outlines the development and also discusses some of the many inventions in the field of instrumentation and materials that have brought this intervention to its current high level; these include the cryo-probe, implantation of artificial lenses, the use of hyaluronic acid, phaco-emulsification, smaller incisions without sutures and the development of foldable intraocular lenses.
authors.affiliation: Diakonessenhuis, afd. Oogheelkunde, Zeist, the Netherlands. c.a.m.pouw@students.uu.nl
authors.forename: C A M Karin
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Pouw
authors.forename: Richard H C
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Zegers
mesh_terms: D002386:Cataract / Q000266:history*; D002387:Cataract Extraction / Q000266:history* / Q000379:methods; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D009426:Netherlands; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D014792:Visual Acuity