Ranchi, Nov. 16: Patients suffering from cataract no longer have to go outstations to have their eyes operated upon by the modern technique of “Phaco”.

Cataracts can be operated by the latest phacoemulsification method, which uses the no-infection-no-pad technique. This method enables the patient to go home after a couple of minutes of preliminary medication.

The information was given at a workshop of the International Congress of Surgeons organised here at Kashyap Eye Hospital today.

Speaking on the occasion, the experts of the field said, that unlike previous operations which required general and local anaesthetics besides an injection on the conjunctiva, the new technique involves the use of topical anaesthesia, and eye drops instead of the injections. The muscles of the eye are untouched and the patient can move his eyelids during the operation.

Explaining the technique, the city eye specialists said, a small incision is made in the eye by the Phaco machine and the cataract is shredded to pieces by a titanium needle through ultrasound.

The disintegrated pieces are then sucked in by another syringe and a flexible lens is inserted skilfully to replace the shredded one.

The artificial lens is about 5.5 mm in diameter and can be squeezed to half the size for insertion.

Explaining the Phaco method, ophthalmologist Bharati Kashyap said that the new technique is beneficial for patients who have a history of high blood pressure, asthma, and heart ailments.

“The operation does not take much time and the healing is quick because the cut in the lens is just a fraction,” Kashyap said.