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The medical superintendent of civic-run Balasaheb Thackeray Trauma Care Hospital was demoted and transferred on Monday, while the services of an honorary eye surgeon were terminated after three patients lost vision following a botched cataract surgery on January 4. An inquiry into the incident found out that lapses in the sterilisation of surgery equipment could have caused the infection.
Additional municipal commissioner IS Kundan said that the findings of the inquiry committee were serious. “It shows that the device that is used to perform cataract surgeries and is meant to be mandatorily changed after every procedure was apparently not done on that day,” she said, adding that the breach in the sterilisation protocol could have caused the infection which led to three patients losing vision.
She said that medical superintendent Dr HS Bava has been transferred to Maa Maternity Hospital in Chembur. The services of the honorary operating surgeon Dr Arun Chaudhary was terminated immediately after the incident, Kundan said.
Experts say that in cataract surgery a phacoemulsification probe is used to remove the cloudy lens material. If the probe or the attached needles are not autoclaved or sterilised properly, it could cause infection in patients. Kundan said the case will also be referred to JJ Hospital to determine if there are grounds for medical negligence.
On January 4, seven patients between the age groups of 50-75 had undergone cataract surgery at the civic-run hospital in Jogeshwari. A day later, the operated eye of all seven was found to be infected. Swabs from the infected site detected the presence of pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria that is known to cause serious complications, including blindness and death.
While all patients were shifted to KEM Hospital, Parel to treat the infection and sent home a few days later, a Goregaon woman continues to be admitted. Her son said, “My mother is fine now. She can see everything. We are hopeful that she will be discharged soon,” said the son. The vision of three patients couldn’t be salvaged, while in four patients it could be saved to some extent.
Eye surgeon Dr Chaudhary said that he would comment only after he has seen the inquiry report. “Autoclaving is done by staffers. By looking at an instrument, a surgeon cannot tell if the process has been completed appropriately,” he said. He added that he was aware of some staff attendance problems on the day of surgery, but he was not aware that it had affected the cleaning of equipment. Kundan admitted that manpower was a problem at the hospital and that the BMC would look at strengthening the ancillary posts.