20th July 1997

The Healing Cut - 2

An eye opener

by Roshan Peiris

She was an elderly woman and as she went about her work she found that the vision in her left eye was blurred. She panicked and consulted her doctor. He diagnosed it as cataract.

And so there she was at the Sri Jayewardenepura hospital operating theatre getting the cataract out. Only her face showed as she was covered in three varying shades of green drapes.

Eye surgeon who Dr. D. Wariyapola perched on an operating stool hardly ever looked up. Under the large microscope was the eye and his steady hands were busy trying to give her sight back.

She was operated under a local anaesthetic but there were cylinders with gas on a side with an anaesthetist in waiting for any contingency.

In the old days I have seen a cataract operation. The incision was ten times as large as it is today. It took time and the eye was kept shut for over three days. Today it is faster and the wound heals quicker as the incision is small. The surgeon’s delicate instruments make a tiny incision, half the size of those done earlier. Through the incision ultra sound waves are directed. These ultrasonic waves break up the offending cataract and the pieces are suctioned out.

Through the opening the eye looks big and the pupil looks like a fleshy mass. The eye is outlined with the help of a white border.

Next came the delicate part of the operation."Now, we insert the folded silicon lens. The lens is folded into two and inserted through the incision" Dr. Wariyapola said.

This artificial lens accelerates the healing process.This whole process of removing the cataract has a jaw braking name ‘phacoemulification’ or ‘phaco’ which is comfortable to pronounce. Earlier operations had many stitches, now there are none.

Hey presto, the patient is well and could see as she lay on the operating table with her operated eye.

"She could even go home the same evening but she prefers to stay and go home tomorrow morning," Dr. Wariyapola, said.

"She can then continue with her normal duties." To the operating group this seemed like an everyday occurrence but to the patient it meant the regaining of lost sight.

Continue to Plus page 3 - Doctors' CT scan dilemma

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