Ophthalmology

Cataract surgeries are performed as day care procedures, which essentially mean that the patients can walk back home the same day. Cataract is a condition wherein the clear lens of the eye becomes opaque resulting in a decrease in vision. While performing cataract surgery the opaque lens is replaced with a synthetic lens. During its early days, the department used to conduct such surgeries through conventional methods that have since evolved to phaco surgery. Phaco surgery is a “walk-in walkout” surgery which requires no hospitalisation. By using this technique the cataract is broken into small pieces and removed from the eye using ultrasound.

Apart from low vision aid clinics, it also started offering treatment for Retinopathies, which requires highly technical equipments (LASER) and specialised skills owing to the extremely delicate nature of the Human eye. The department offers routine spectacle checking, contact lens fitting services and fundus fluorescein angiography(high-end photographic technique for diabetic retinopathy). These are apart from the routine A scan, which provides data on the length of the eye, a major factor in common sight disorders.

The department, now headed by Dr D. Sundar, is also engaged in various community activities including eye screening in schools and conducting eye camps in rural areas. The department now plans to have a separate operation theatre of its own as well as a separate ward. It aims to have its own mobile unit that would basically boost its eye camp-related activities. Separate clinics for glaucoma (a condition in which the eye’s optic nerve is damaged due to pressure) as well as a clinic to treat diseases related to cornea (clear tissue at the front of the eye) are envisaged for the future.