SMHS Hospital performs 11 retina surgeries in a week

Samaan Lateef

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 25

Only three retina surgeries were conducted today in the ophthalmology theatre of Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital here, belying the tall claims of the hospital authorities that it has adequate equipment and surgeons available to conduct 140 eye surgeries on time.

A Class VII student, Zahid Nisar of Shirmal village in south Shopian, has been operated upon by a retina surgeon of SMHS Hospital. Zahid was hit by a pellet in his right eye on July 10 and was shifted to SMHS Hospital. After sealing his wound on the first day of his admission, a retina surgeon of SMHS Hospital today performed his surgery in the vitrectomy unit to treat his vision loss.

“Doctors have assured me that he will regain vision. I can only hope and pray that doctors’ assurance comes true,” Nisar Ahmad Hajam, Zahid’s father, said.

In the past one week, the retina surgeons of SMHS Hospital conducted surgeries on 11 patients, out of 140 who got pellet injuries, a doctor said.

After Zahid, the retina surgeon operated upon a Class XI student, Mohammad Asif of Tujjar Sharief in north Kashmir’s Sopore town.

Asif was hit by a pellet in his left eye on July 11, during protests in his area following the killing of Hizb commander Burhan Wani.

Doctors also operated upon a youth, Alim, who was also hit in his eye. However, the three surgeries conducted by the ophthalmology department are too less in number as the SMHS authorities had claimed that they would conduct six-eight surgeries in a day. “It is not possible to conduct retina surgeries on all the 140 patients in a given time frame. Surgeries of most of these patients will get delayed because a patient injured in eye has to undergo the secondary surgery within three weeks,” an eye specialist said.

The SMHS Hospital authorities have imposed strictures on all the doctors and operation theatre assistants in the ophthalmology department not to divulge any information about the number of patients and surgeries conducted.

After taking cognisance of news item “SMHS Hospital lacks equipment to perform eye surgeries” in July 23 edition of The Tribune, the Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court, NN Paul Vasanthakumar directed the state government to shift the eye patients admitted to the SMHS Hospital to other hospitals for providing them treatment, including surgeries, if they cannot be treated here.

The ophthalmology department has admitted 183 eye patients and at least 140 need vitrectomy surgeries to restore their vision after they suffered vitreous haemorrhage, retinal detachment, tears or holes in their eyes due to pellets.

Medical Superintendent of SMHS hospital Dr Nazir Chaudhary said they had started the retina surgeries. “I don’t have the exact number of surgeries conducted today,” he said.