KIMS-Bhubaneswar Doc Conducts Retina Surgery On 3-Month-Old Baby

 Bhubaneswar: Doctors at Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) have performed a complicated eye surgery on a three-month-old baby, saving the child from losing vision.

According to a KIMS release, the operation involved risk to the baby’s life who is just three months and eleven days old, but the team of doctors headed by Consultant Retina Surgeon, Department of Ophthalmology, Manmath Kumar Das, took it as a challenge and went ahead with the procedure. “The baby was born premature and weighed around 1200 gm. In case of premature babies, usually the Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) screening is carried out to determine signs of ROP. This is an important test carried out to prevent blindness as they grow up. It was during this screening that that the baby was diagnosed with ROP in both eyes,” said Dr Das.

The right eye was treated by administering injections and, thereafter, through laser procedure, but curing the left eye proved more complicated. Therefore, the risky retinopathy surgery was conducted on the baby. The baby will enjoy a normal vision in both the eyes, he added.

The other members of the team included Dr. Santosh Panda and his team from NICU and Associate Professor, Department of Anaesthesiology, Dr Saswati Das.

The release claimed that the procedure was performed for the first time in any medical college-cum-hospital in Odisha. “ KIMS is well equipped with all advanced equipment to perform the operation,” Dr Das added.

“My baby has got a new life. I have no words to express our gratitude to the doctors and KIMS,” said the mother of the baby.