Director Ahn Jae-sang of Cheongdam Nunchorong Ophthalmic Animal Hospital, Korea’s first ophthalmology-specialized animal hospital, announced that it has achieved 2,000 cataract surgeries.
According to Nunchorong Eye Animal Hospital, 2,000 cataract surgeries were performed until September of this year since opening in June 2016. In particular, cataract surgery cases have increased every year, and in 2024, more than 300 surgeries were performed per year for the first time.
Although there are no official statistics, the cumulative number of 2,000 cataract surgeries, or 300 cataract surgeries per year, is evaluated to be unprecedented.
Cataract surgery on dogs is known to be more difficult than on humans. This is because a dog’s lens is three times larger than a human’s and much harder. Therefore, more experience is needed to perform surgery well.
Looking at the 2,000 cases of cataract surgery performed by Director Jae-sang Ahn, we can see that there are many difficult cases such as elderly patients, hypermature cataracts, lens dislocation, lens rupture, and posterior capsule opacification. This case was also successfully carried out through accumulated experience.
Director Ahn Jae-sang explained, “How cleanly the eyes that are difficult to operate on and how they respond when unexpected situations occur during surgery show the skill of the surgeon. In the case of older eyes or hypermature cataracts, the lens is very hard, and in cases accompanied by lens dislocation, the difficulty of surgery increases significantly because the lens shakes abnormally during surgery.”
He added, “When inserting an artificial lens into an eye with a dislocated or ruptured lens, there is a risk of tilting the lens, so some hospitals do not insert an artificial lens. However, since good vision cannot be expected without inserting a lens, insertion of an artificial lens is necessary. Also, in eyes with posterior capsule opacification, it is difficult to expect a clear vision even if the cataract is removed, so it is necessary to secure a clear central field of vision through posterior capsulotomy during surgery.”
Director Jae-Sang Ahn said that from the time he accumulated experience in operating about 1,000 cases, he became confident that he could safely complete the surgery no matter what type of cataract occurred.
In 2018, the world’s first 3mm incision artificial lens suture technique was developed.
In December 2018, Director Ahn Jae-sang developed the world’s first 3mm incision artificial lens suturing technique, marking a major milestone in pet cataract surgery.
According to Director Ahn, if an artificial lens is not inserted, severe hyperopia of about 15 diopters will occur, making it difficult to expect good vision. However, when performing cataract surgery in eyes with lens dislocation or lens rupture, inserting an artificial lens could cause the lens to tilt, so it was often not inserted.
The previously introduced artificial lens suturing technique requires an 8mm corneal incision and a special artificial lens for suturing. However, in 2018, Director Ahn developed a surgical method that sutures an artificial lens commonly used in cataract surgery, rather than a special artificial lens, with just a 3 mm incision. This method was introduced in Veterinary Ophthalmology (VO, International Journal of Veterinary Ophthalmology), a world-class veterinary ophthalmology journal (The clinical outcomes of 33 canine eyes following the novel sulcus fixation technique of an injectable acrylic lens through a 3-mm corneal incision), and was introduced as an innovative method by Professor Marta Leiva of the University of Barcelona (DipECVO) at the European Society of Veterinary Ophthalmology (ECVO) held this year. It is receiving worldwide attention to the extent that it is being introduced as an artificial lens suturing technique.
Since developing this surgical method, Dr. Ahn has been inserting artificial lenses in 100% of all cataract surgery cases. Director Ahn emphasized, “The purpose of cataract surgery is for the patient to restore normal vision. Therefore, if the artificial lens was not inserted during the surgery, it is difficult to say that the surgery was successful.”
“Posterior capsulotomy performed on more than 200 cases has never failed.”
During general cataract surgery, the anterior lens capsule is excised to remove cataract material, and the posterior capsule is left for insertion of an artificial lens. However, in the case of old cataracts, there is often opacity in the posterior capsule, and in this case, posterior capsulectomy is necessary.
Director Ahn Jae-sang said, “In the past, we learned that posterior capsule opacity did not have a significant effect on vision. However, to be more precise, the correct expression is ‘posterior capsule opacity does not cause blindness.'” He added, “If opacity occurs in the posterior capsule, the central vision appears blurry, so it is difficult to expect clear vision. For this reason, when posterior capsule opacity occurs in humans, we apply laser posterior capsulotomy (YAG capsulotomy) to clear the central vision.”
If the posterior capsule is removed too large, the artificial lens may transfer to the vitreous body, and conversely, if it is removed too small, it becomes difficult to completely remove the opacity. The problem is that posterior capsulotomy in dogs is more difficult than in humans. Because a dog’s lens is about three times larger than a human’s, the posterior capsule is located quite deep.
Director Ahn Jae-sang said, “Since the first application of posterior capsulectomy in October 2021, we have performed at least 200 cases, and there has not yet been a single failure.” He added, “There are still no reports of posterior capsulectomy in dogs worldwide. We plan to submit a related paper next year.”
Director Ahn emphasized, “We are focusing on how clear and clear vision can be restored after cataract surgery. In the process of performing about 2,000 cataract surgeries, our surgical skills have improved enough to routinely apply artificial lens suturing and posterior capsulotomy, and we have been able to get closer to the goal of ‘recovering clearer vision’ that I have been pursuing.”
He added, “Based on the 2,000 data accumulated this time, we plan to publish various analysis results, such as the success rate and complication rate by breed and cataract stage, in a paper in 2027.”
