City doctors save worker's sight in complex surgery

Local doctors on Thursday announced the success of saving the vision of a patient injured in an accident.

Experts reminded the public wear protective goggles where necessary to prevent injury and grasp the "golden time" for treatment on eye trauma after an accident.

The patient from Jiangxi Province said he was operating a machine when his left eye was hit as a grinding wheel flew out of the machine.

"My eye was unable to see at once," he said.

After hospitals in Jiangxi said he should seek medical help in Shanghai to save the eye, he contacted Shanghai Ai'er Eye Hospital and rushed to the city.

"The patient's injury was very complicated and the accident caused a series of consequences on the eye. We decided to divide the treatment into two surgeries," said the hospital's Dr Dong Jun.

The first one removed the injured lens and the second implanted an artificial lens and a pupilloplasty, a surgical process to repair and reshape the pupil.

The patient's eyeball was kept and his vision will be regained gradually, doctors said.

Dr Li Yong, the hospital's president, said eye injury was a common accident and the consequence could be very serious.

"Eye injury has become an important cause for blindness. The awareness of eye protection and the necessity of wearing protective goggles are not popular enough," he said. "Employers and parents should educate and provide the equipment for employees and children, and it is extremely important to visit a professional facility for treatment whenever an eye injury takes place."