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Cataract surgery in three minutes

DUBAI - "A bloodless, cataract removal surgery can be performed in three minutes," said Dr Azam Ali, Consultant Opthalmologist and Head of the Opthamology Section at Aga Khan University Hospital in Karachi.

Speaking to Khaleej Times during his short stay in Dubai recently Dr Ali said, "According to my knowledge, the fastest doctor in the world is a Japanese who does it in less than two minutes. Good surgeons can perform such a surgery in 10-15 minutes on an average," he added. Dr Ali has a track record of performing 30 surgeries in one morning - without any complications.

Speaking about how diabetes can have a negative effect on cataract, Dr Ali said, "Previously cataract could only be diagnosed in its last stage when a patient could not see anymore. Now we do not wait for that stage."

Explaining new surgical concepts Dr Ali said, "Earlier, eye surgeries used to be very clumsy and even then there was no surety that the operation would be successful or not." "Now, with new technology, the patient walks out of the operation theatre after five minutes of the surgery," he elaborated.

Further explaining Dr Ali said, "Cataract surgery can now be performed without any anaesthesia. After using topical drops (topical anaesthsia) to soften the cataract, a small instrument is put into the eye which sucks out the cataract. Small lenses up to 6 mm are then put into the eye, through a 3mm incision, by folding them up. Once in the eye, they open up and fit into place without the need for stitches.

"But this is only done in centres that have a good track record - with high success and low infection rates," said Dr Ali, adding that this was the most successful eye surgical procedure in the world at present because of the finesse and the success rate (almost 99.9 per cent) of the procedure.

As a caution for patients, Dr Ali said there is no concept of maturity of a cataract in today's world. "If a cataract matures, then it does not remain suitable for such kind of surgery," said Dr Ali.

Speaking about the benefit of such a surgery for diabetic patients Dr Ali said, "There is no infection in the eye after the surgery because no stitching is done. Dr Ali also said that a diabetic patient could contract cataract earlier in life than other people. "It is recommended that once the disease is established, such patients follow up with doctors regularly," said Dr Ali.

Diabetes can also lead to retinal problems. "It is not the level of sugar in the blood that causes a problem in the retina but the duration of diabetes the patient has," explained Dr Ali. The symptoms of cataract include seeing of black spots in the field of vision or a shadow or curtain like effect in the field of vision. Among several options in the treatment, the laser is still being used. "Laser treatment can be repeated several times depending on the severity of the disease," he said.