1114: success with young cataract patients

When we are operating on a younger cataract patients, the stakes are higher and the surgery must last the patient … More

1105: Using the Power Pre-Chopper

The Ultra-chopper was designed by Dr Luis Escaf in order to penetrate a very dense nucleus to chop a cataract. … More

1103: Pre-Chopper Technique

Pre-chopping means that we are splitting the nucleus into half or quadrants prior to inserting the phaco probe into the … More

1099: some amazing surgical pearls

With CataractCoach, I am sharing everything that I have learned or figured out during the past 25 years in ophthalmology. … More

1098: Quad Camera Angles in surgery

This video was sent to us from Dr Felipe Ribeiro and Dr Andre Berger from Brazil and it features the … More

1089: Try the CataractCoach Challenge

Take the CataractCoach challenge: perform a cataract surgery while keeping the light reflex (Purkinje image) in the central zone of … More

1087: how to perfect your case

In this complete cataract case, we are going to slow it down a bit and show you the subtleties that … More

1065: Cortical Cleaving hydro-dissection

Cortical cleaving hydro-dissection was described 30 years ago by Howard Fine MD, a pioneer in the shift to modern day … More

1035: First year in practice cataract

In keeping with our theme of learning from the cataract surgeries of young surgeons who are at the beginning of … More

1028: Keys to Cataract Surgery Efficiency

If you have performed fewer than 10,000 cataract surgeries, you are still in the part of the learning curve where … More

highly myopic cataract surgery

These are some of the most rewarding cataract surgeries to perform since we can correct the cataract as well as … More

considerations for monocular patients

Monocular patients present a special situation that can differ from a routine case in a patient with two eyes. We … More

Anterior Chamber Phakic IOL removal

Phakic IOLs are useful to address extreme degrees of myopia, but there are potential complications. Previously, we have featured cases … More

Cataract with Silicone Oil Removal

Our guest surgeon is Willie Kan, MBBS from Malaysia and he is showing the technique of combined cataract surgery with … More

Descemet’s Membrane Detachment

When we make a corneal incision for cataract surgery, we must be careful to avoid damaging the attachment of Descemet’s … More

Cataract, cornea transplant, glaucoma tube

Our guest surgeon is Guillermo Amescua MD who is a faculty member at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami. … More

Playlist: Critical Life Lessons

Let’s start the new year right and make 2021 the time where you advance your surgical skills. Certainly dexterity and … More

complete cataract case: optimize steps

Most of us will have the opportunity to perform thousands of cataract surgeries (often tens of thousands) during the course … More

clean your optics & focus the microscope

This is actually a very important lesson. Your microscope optics will determine your view for the surgery and that could … More

complete case: chop nucleus in the bag

One of my favorite types of videos to watch is the Complete Cataract Case. I enjoy seeing a surgery from … More

Double Phaco Incisions to fix Astigmatism

double phaco incisions for treatment of astigmatism

Benchmark: Skills after 1000 surgeries

Our guest surgeon today is Érico Jun Oda MD from Brazil and he is showing us a routine cataract case. … More

Complicated Radial Keratotomy Case

This is a tough case where the patient had prior 16-cut radial keratotomy for treatment of a high degree of … More

Complete Case: Pseudo-Exfoliation

Time for a complete cataract case, shown from start to finish. This patient has significant pseudo-exfoliation syndrome with all of … More

Phaco tip bevel down for chop

Many viewers of CataractCoach.com ask me why I prefer to have the phaco tip bevel down for cataract surgery. The … More

Why be afraid of cataract surgery?

why are patients afraid of cataract surgery?

Patient moving during cataract surgery

Many patients ask us what will happen if they move during cataract surgery. What if they need to sneeze or … More

Cataract Surgery for a Cataract Surgeon

cataract surgeon for a cataract surgeon

Finishing this case will be difficult

The reason why ophthalmologists need to perform at least 1,000 cataract surgeries until they are sufficiently up the learning curve, … More

complete case: phaco chop in myope

Complete Cataract Cases are videos where we show the entire surgery, from the first incision (usually the paracentesis in my … More

Review: Uveitis, Glaucoma, Cataract

Cataract surgery in an eye with uveitic glaucoma Stepwise approach to surgical success Cataract surgery in eyes with small pupils … More

a short groove is sufficient

For techniques such as stop-and-chop or divide-and-conquer, the phaco probe is used to sculpt a trench or groove in the … More

Complete Cataract Case: Routine Surgery

While it is fun to watch a video of a cataract surgery that involves complicated maneuvers and difficult challenges, this … More

choosing refractive targets

Plano is not always the goal It would seem logical that emmetropia is the ideal refractive state of the eye. … More

posterior chamber deepens with capsule break

When the posterior chamber deepens during cataract surgery, it is usually a sign that the posterior capsule has been ruptured. … More

Cataract Surgery with prior Amblyopia

The most common causes of amblyopia are related to either strabismus or an untreated refractive error, particularly in one eye … More

compilation video: perfecting your surgery

The difference between good and great may appear subtle to outsiders, but for ophthalmologists like us, these details are very … More

Drill and Chop Technique

With a dense cataract, more effort and force is needed to chop the cataract. Usually with phaco chop, it is … More

complete cataract case: great red reflex

We all love a great red reflex during cataract surgery because it makes is much easier to see details such … More

cannula for cortex aspiration

Bimanual irrigation/aspiration for cortex removal has an advantage: it is easy to switch hands and then access a full 360 … More

remove one nuclear half first

There are many ways to divide and emulsify the lens nucleus in cataract surgery. Some advanced surgeons will chop the … More

compilation video: dense cataracts

This compilation video features the best of many prior videos regarding dense cataract techniques. The video has many clips which … More

Challenge: Monocular Dense Cataract

Operating on a monocular patient is always stressful since we know that the stakes are higher due to the patient … More

Equanimity under Duress

When Sir William Osler left the University of Pennsylvania’s Medical School (the first one in the USA, started in 1765) … More

Surgeon returns after a 3 month hiatus

Performing surgery at a high level is a skill that must be continually honed and practiced. What happens when we … More

Complete Case: Retained Viscoelastic

Retained viscoelastic after cataract surgery is the most common reason why there is an elevation of the intra-ocular pressure (IOP) … More

great learning resident cataract case

If you are in an ophthalmology residency program in the northern hemisphere, particularly in the USA, then you know that … More

Resident Cataract Case with Iris Hooks

For a small pupil case, using iris hooks is helpful to give better access during cataract surgery. This case is … More

Safety with Cannula Use – be careful!

Beginning surgeons do not always realize that the force created by using small 27g cannulas can be quite high. If … More

complete cataract case: phaco flip

The key to the phaco flip technique is using the fluid wave from hydro-dissection to gently prolapse part of the … More

Peeling Capsular Membranes

We present another great learning video from Dr. Val Apostolov from Amsterdam, The Netherlands to show the techniques of peeling … More

Setting your Phaco Speed Limit

The speed at which surgery happens during phaco is directly related to the aspiration flow rate, which is measured in … More

Fibrotic Dense White Cataract

This patient developed a white cataract years ago and was unable to seek treatment for a prolonged period of time. … More

Cataract Quiz: Why did the capsule rip?

This resident surgeon recently experienced quite a surprise: when he injected viscoelastic at the beginning of the surgery, the anterior … More

Toric IOL for Posterior Polar Cataracts?

We know that with posterior polar cataracts, there is a congenital weakness in the posterior capsule at the site of … More

Uveitic Dense White Cataract

This dense white cataract is further complicated by being an a uveitic eye with a fibrotic membrane causing a small … More

Cataract Quiz: Why is the cornea cloudy?

This is a routine cataract surgery case. It is very efficient and a minimal amount of ultrasound energy is used … More

Complete Case: Pressurized Cataract

This is an interesting case of a young patient, in his mid 40s, who sustained ocular trauma and developed a … More

Critiquing my old cataract surgery video

I was digging through some old computer files and I came across an old video that I made in 2006. … More

Resident recovers from capsule break

In the course of learning cataract surgery, resident ophthalmologists will encounter complications such as this posterior capsule rupture. The key … More

Expert Surgeon versus The Rock

There is so much to be learned by watching other surgeons operate. Even after so many thousands of cataract surgeries … More

Which resident will win this contest?

Residents often prefer to learn divide-and-conquer as the first nucleo-fractis technique for phaco surgery. This requires making a central groove … More

You must learn to do MSICS

In many countries where dense, brunescent cataracts are common, the SICS (small incision cataract surgery) or MSICS (manual small incision … More

Soft cataracts can be quite difficult

Most surgeons associate dense cataracts with increasing difficulty during cataract surgery because they require more ultrasonic energy to break up … More

the hemi-nucleus tuck technique

One of the challenges in phaco surgery is that we need to break up the nucleus in order to remove … More

Removing OVD from behind the IOL

Surgeons in training often ask, “Do I need to remove the viscoelastic from behind the IOL at the end of … More

Learn as I coach this resident

Many ophthalmologists from around the world have asked if we offer a fellowship, externship, or clinical rotation so that they … More

Mastering Divide-and-Conquer

Most young ophthalmologists start learning phacoemulsification cataract surgery with the divide-and-conquer technique. This is an easier technique to learn than … More

resident divide-and-conquer case 30

An anonymous resident sent in this video of his/her 30th cataract surgery which was done with the divide-and-conquer technique. The … More

Residual posterior polar opacities

We love to show posterior polar cataract videos and we have an entire category for them here on CataractCoach. Using … More

Small pupil, PXF, and IFIS

For a beginning surgeon it is helpful to see surgeons performing techniques that are out of your comfort zone. The … More

Expert level dense white cataract surgery

It is a pleasure to watch a true expert perform his craft and this is especially true for cataract surgery, … More

Fixing severe capsular phimosis

In a small number of patients, capsular phimosis can happen after cataract surgery. This can lead to severe distortion of … More

Does cataract surgery pose a viral risk?

Our colleagues from the University of Toronto recently did an experiment to determine if cataract surgery poses a risk of … More

List of Key Videos for Residents

A young doctor in training asked me to put together a list of key videos prior to her first day … More