Paediatric Eye Surgery

Diseases of eye affecting paediatric population require lot of patience & special tests for vision assessment. Many a times you need to give general anaesthesia for examination of eye. Early diagnosis and treatment is important as brain connections & visual functions are developing below the age of 5 years.

Most common paediatric eye diseases include

1. Refractive errors- eyes need to be checked after dilatation which will take 1-2 hrs.
2. Paediatric cataract- causes include hereditary (most common), genetic disorders, maternal infection like rubella, trauma. Urgent Surgery is needed with intra ocular lens implantation. Visual rehabilitation after operation & regular check up is equally important.
3. Paediatric glaucoma- it presents with corneal clouding or corneal enlargement, reflex tearing, photophobia. Paediatric Eye Surgery will be needed at the earliest.
4. Nasolacrimal duct obstruction- it occurs in about 5% of full term new borns. Symptoms consists of watering & discharge. Treatment consist of topical antibiotic eye drops & lacrimal message. In majority of patients (more than 70%), it opens up spontaneously by age of 1 year. In the rest, lacrimal probing needs to be done under general anaesthesia.