Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Teed's Skills Make Him Staar Surgeon

Dr. Frank Teed was selected to be one of the first surgeons to implant the Staar Toric Intraocular lens due to his advanced skills in clear corneal cataract surgery and excellent surgical results. On May 20 Howard Callaway became the first Arkansan to have the Staar astigmatism lens implant by Teed.

Approximately 20 percent of patients who need cataract surgery have some degree of preexisting astigmatism, a condition which is present prior to surgery when the cornea is unequally curved, causing light rays to focus at various planes in front of and behind the retina resulting in distorted vision, according to Teed.

For the past decade, ophthalmic surgeons have used various methods to correct pre- existing astigmatism during cataract surgery. Now, the answer may lie in the intraocular lens itself.

Like other intraocular lenses, the Staar Toric Intraocular lens restores focus to the eye when the natural lens or cataract is removed, but it has a special optical design to correct pre- existing astigmatism.

Until recently, patients with preexisting astigmatism were simply prescribed eyeglasses after surgery to correct their astigmatism, or they underwent corneal-altering incisions which were often unpredictable and could compromise the integrity of the cornea. Now, for the first, the Staar Toric Intraocular lens allows surgeons to safely correct or reduce pre-existing astigmatism during cataract surgery with a single surgical procedure.

Only surgeons who utilize the most advanced clear corneal cataract surgery techniques are able to maximize the benefits of the Staar Toric Intraocular lens, because clear corneal incision techniques minimize surgically-induced astigmatism.

Clear corneal cataract surgery is a technique whereby the surgeon makes a tiny incision in the perimeter of the cornea, on the side of the eye closest to the temple. Through this tiny incision, the cataract is removed using an ultrasonic probe and an intraocular lens is implanted.

Due to the tunneled architecture and size of the clear corneal incision, stitches are usually not needed, because the incision is self healing.