Eye centre’s OT shut after 12 get inflammation following surgery

ALTHOUGH AN INFECTION HAS BEEN RULED OUT AS THE CAUSE OF THE INFLAMMATION, THE HOSPITAL IS UNSURE WHAT CAUSED IT

NEWDELHI: Delhi’s biggest standalone eye care hospital, Guru Nanak Eye Centre, shut its only operation theatre for two days, on Monday and Tuesday, after 12 people reportedly suffered severe inflammation following cataract removal surgeries.

“All the patients were given anti-inflammatory medicine and were kept under observation for just one night at the hospital. They recovered and were discharged within a day. There was no loss of eyesight or other adverse effects,” said Dr Sushil Kumar, director of the hospital.

The government hospital faced a similar situation in 2014 when the OTS had to be shut after an infection affected 10 patients.

No surgical cases were admit- ted to the hospital on Monday or Tuesday as the operation theatre, which has 10 tables, was being fumigated and resterilised to ensure the inflammation was not caused by any infection.

The hospital has already sent samples for culture analysis to check for the presence of any microorganism.

The OT remains closed on Sundays. The 12 cases were reported over three days before that. On an average, the hospital operates on 40 to 50 patients with cataract every day.

“This was a precautionary measure. The fumigation and resterilisation was carried out as part of the protocol followed following an adverse outcome like this. However, there was no infection as none of the patients were diagnosed with it,” said Dr Kumar. Although an infection has been ruled out as the cause of the inflammation, the hospital is unsure what caused it.

“A committee with all 15 doctors from the hospital has been formed. We now suspect the inflammation could have been because of a reaction to some drugs. So, all the drugs will be sent for analysis to check whether they were of standard quality,” said Dr Kumar.

Meanwhile, the same batch of medicines are not being used by the hospital.