Bengaluru: New surgery technique helps treat eye injuries caused by road accidents

Bengaluru: Thirty-five-year-old Lakshmi, hailing from a village near Hubballi, was admitted to a city hospital with a bulging right eye, which had turned red and painful. "She was admitted to our hospital a few days after she had a road accident," says Dr Sharath Kumar G.G., Consultant Interventional neuro-radiologist, Apollo Specialty hospitals, Jayanagar. He said that the patient's eye had redness, decreased vision and increased eye movement due to ‘proptosis’ and excessive watering.

Lakshmi was suffering from carotid-cavernous fistula (CCF) which is a result of tearing of blood vessels behind the eye. “A CCF allows highly pressurized arterial blood to be transmitted directly into the cavernous sinus and the draining veins, leading to venous hypertension. The blood, instead of going into the brain, goes into the sac behind the eye. So the pressure behind the eye increases, causing the bulge," Dr Sharath explained, who was her treating surgeon and also one of the very few MCI certified neuro-interventional radiologists in the State.

Before the advent of neuro-interventional techniques, the only way to treat the condition was through surgical ligation of the injured artery on either side of the injured artery. "Earlier, the only option for surgeons was to tie up the torn part, which many times proved fatal. Most of the patients were not able to tolerate ligation of the main artery supplying blood to the brain. They also had to run the risk of fatal strokes," he added. With the advent of this technology, neurovascular disorders, including stroke cases, are now completely curable if attended to within the golden period (six hours), he added.

In Bengaluru, however, only two hospitals conduct such surgeries - Apollo and Nimhans. "In a city where there are 4,000-5,000 road accidents, some 50-100 patients are likely to develop CCF. It cannot be caught initially with an MRI scan after an accident, as the blood starts collecting and the effect is visible only after two days. In such cases the patient should immediately go either to an ophthalmologist or a neuro-interventional radiologist," the doctor explains. He added that he has already conducted seven successful surgeries with the help of this technology.