KIMS Doctor Performs Retina Surgery on Three-Month-Old Baby

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. The procedure was performed for the first time in any medical college-cum-hospital in Odisha.

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, Dept of Ophthalmology, KIMS Dr. Manmath Kumar Das, took this as a challenge and performed the operation on the baby.

“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 baby was diagnosed with ROP,” said Dr. Das.

Such cases are usually found among premature babies. In this case as well, both the baby’s eyes were diagnosed with ROP. The right eye was treated through way of 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, Dr. Das said.

The other members of the team included Dr. Santosh Panda and his team from NICU and Associate Professor Dept of Anesthesiology Dr. Saswati Das.

Dr. Das said this was the first time that such type of surgery was carried out by a medical college-cum-hospital in Odisha because of the risk associated with it. KIMS is well equipped with all advanced equipment to perform the operation, he said.

“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. They made rounds of several hospitals before getting the treatment at KIMS. The Founder of KIIT, KISS and KIMS Dr. Achyuta Samanta hailed the team of doctors for the successful surgery as he wished for the baby’s fast recovery.