Retinal Detachment: It isa condition in which the layer of the eye that is responsible of perceiving light detaches from the normal position. It causes sudden loss of vision and it should be treated urgently. The only treatment for this condition is surgery and early surgery can help in restoring vision.

Retinal detachment is one of the few ophthalmic emergencies which needs early intervention. If you have sudden loss of vision then you should immediately go to the retina specialist. After the diagnosis your doctor will inform you about the surgery and also about the pros and cons of surgery.

There are two types of retinal detachment surgery depending on the age,lens status of the patient and the type of retinal detachment. One is done from outside where a silicone band is put and some freezing technique is used to settle the retina

The other type is a more extensive surgery where the retina is attached and some oil or gas is put to keep the retina settled. Here laser therapy is done to close the breaks. You might need multiple surgeries and at times the visual prognosis might not be very good.

Macular surgery: Macula is the central part of the retina and it is the most sensitive part of the retina.It is the area of the eye which is responsible of many important function like brightness sensitivity colour and contrast sensitivity. The most common diseases of macula that needs surgery are macular hole, epiretinal membrane and vitreomacular traction.

All macular pathologies don’t need surgeries. But we do surgery when the vision is less or when the patient has distortion of vision where we remove the present in the eye called the vitreous and replace it with gas. We also tell the patient to lie on his abdomen for 5-7 days. The patient is also about no air travel for 4-6 weeks.

Vitreous hemorrhage: Vitreous hemorrhage is a condition when there is bleeding inside the eye in front of the retina. It may occur in a lot of systemic conditions  like diabetes mellitus, hypertension etc or in trauma. A lot of vitreous hemorrhages resolve on its own so not all the vitreous hemorrhage patients need surgery. In the surgical procedure we remove the hemorrhage along with the gel in front of the retina and replace it with air or gas or silicone oil. The visual prognosis depends on the condition of the retina and sometimes the patients might need multiple surgeries.

Diabetic retinopathy and screening.

India is the diabetic capital of the world. It can cause severe vision loss if left untreated. Screening for diabetic retinopathy is very important to diagnose the disease as early as possible to prevent severe vision loss with early intervention. The diabetics should be screened every year even if the patient does not have any symptom as diabetic retinopathy is a very silent disease. By the time the disease is diagnosed the damage has progressed a lot and the vision loss is irreversible.

The treatment of diabetic retinopathy includes laser, intravitreal injections and surgeries depending on the stage of the disease. The surgery is done to arrest the disease and the visual prognosis is sometimes guarded if diagnosed late.