Cataract Cost in Chennai, India

The cost of cataract surgery in Chennai typically ranges from $260 to $900 USD (about ₹24,700 to ₹85,400), depending on the hospital, room category and type of procedure.

A typical estimate for cataract surgery in Chennai is around $490 (about ₹46,500). What you pay depends mainly on your own case. If one eye is treated with a standard lens or technique, your bill is likely to be closer to $260 (about ₹24,700). It is likely to be nearer $900 (about ₹85,400) if a specialised lens or graft is used, both eyes are treated or advanced equipment is needed.

When comparing Chennai packages for cataract surgery, check whether each quote includes:

• Surgeon and anaesthetist fees
• Operating theatre or procedure room
• The lens, implant or graft
• Hospital stay and room category
• Medicines and consumables
• Follow-up visits before you fly home

Cataract surgery removes the cloudy natural lens of the eye and replaces it with a clear artificial lens, generally by phacoemulsification as a day case under local anaesthetic.

A cataract is clouding of the natural lens, generally developing gradually with age and causing blurred or dim vision, glare and difficulty driving at night, and surgery is considered when it affects daily life.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust makes clear that cataracts are generally removed by phacoemulsification, breaking the lens up with ultrasound through a small wound and fitting an artificial lens, generally as a day case.

The Hull leaflet reports loss of sight or of the eye in under 0.03%, swelling at the back of the eye in approximately 1 to 5% and clouding behind the lens in 5 to 30% within five years, which is treated with a quick laser.

Eye drops are used for a number of weeks, and glasses are generally checked once the eye has settled.

Fitness to fly: the UK Civil Aviation Authority's medical guidance suggests about a week after an operation inside the eye, after the surgeon has reviewed it.

In Chennai, the price of cataract surgery is generally built from these parts:

• Eye measurements and scans: carried out before surgery.
• Lens, implant or graft: a standard or premium choice.
• Surgeon's fee: for the eye specialist.
• Lens: standard or premium.
• Technique: phaco or small-incision.
• Eyes treated: one or both, and timing.
• Follow-up: drops and a glasses check.

Eye surgery estimates in Chennai frequently list the lens or implant, surgeon, theatre, medicines and follow-up appointments separately, so compare like with like.

Eye care in Chennai is provided by hospital ophthalmology departments and by specialist eye hospitals with separate clinics for cataract, cornea, glaucoma and retina.

Hospitals in Chennai can hold NABH accreditation, India's national quality standard set by a board of the Quality Council of India and itself accredited by ISQua, and the NABH website shows whether an accreditation is still valid.

Joint Commission International (JCI) accredits a number of Indian hospitals, and its public directory lets you check whether a Chennai hospital on your shortlist is currently included.

Chennai was called Madras until the Tamil Nadu government changed the name in 1996, so older documents and some hospital paperwork may still use the earlier name.