PGIMER panel finds possibility of harmful bacteria in OTs

CHANDIGARH: The operation theatres, where cataract surgeries were conducted during free eye camps resulting in loss of vision in many patients, have been found to be breeding grounds for bacteria. The detection of infection post-surgery was delayed and missed out for two weeks when five patients were sent to PGIMER, Chandigarh after their condition deteriorated.

These glaring facts have been brought to the fore by an expert team of PGIMER which visited Amritsar recently. Following the botched up cataract surgeries at the eye camps in Amritsar and Gurdaspur, the Union ministry of health and family welfare had asked experts from AIIMS, New Delhi and PGIMER to prepare a feedback report. The three-member PGI team has drafted a report and shall be submitting the same to the ministry on Monday.

While holding ophthalmologist Dr Vivek Arora, of an eye care centre in Jalandhar, responsible for the incident, the PGIMER team felt that it's a wakeup call to be strict about quality assurance of medicines and surgical equipment.

"Cataract surgery involves injecting in a lot of fluids in the eye. These fluids have to be of standardized quality. But the operating surgeon cannot make out if the fluid or the equipment are contaminated or not," said Prof Amod Gupta, head of the Advanced Eye Centre, PGIMER, who headed the team. "The tender procedures in a government setup ensures lowest bidder, but is silent on quality. We need to have a vigilant system to ensure quality assessment of unbranded or generic medicines, which the government is promoting widely," he said.

The report has recommended certain guidelines, including that operations must be performed in known settings to maintain sterility and that follow-up of patients must be mandatory. "Five patients had been referred to PGI. They do not stand a chance of cornea transplant. Had these patients been followed up, the infection could have been managed and blindness prevented. All these patients were operated in one eye," said a senior faculty member of PGIMER.