Heartbroken! A three-year-old baby has undergone six eye surgeries while doctors try their best to save his eyesight

Since she was born, Yuanyuan (pseudonym) has been in and out of the operating room six times. She is already a regular patient in the hospital, but she is so well-behaved that it makes people feel distressed.

Yuanyuan, who is three years old this year, was born in Huangshi, Hubei. When Yuanyuan was two months old, her parents found white dots on her black eyeballs, so they took her to the hospital for examination. As a result, Yuanyuan was diagnosed with congenital cataracts and required surgery. In June 2021, Yuanyuan underwent cataract removal surgery on both eyes. The doctor told Yuanyuan's parents to check on time, but because her parents were working away from home, it was not until around the Spring Festival of the following year that Yuanyuan's parents, who returned to their hometown, took her to the hospital for a checkup. At that time, the examination found that Yuanyuan's right eye intraocular pressure was as high as 30 mmHg (normal intraocular pressure is 10-21 mmHg), and the doctor immediately used drugs to treat Yuanyuan's blood pressure. After the condition was temporarily relieved, Yuanyuan's family came to the Aier Eye Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University.

Wu Zuohong, the director of the hospital's glaucoma department, received Yuanyuan's family. After a detailed examination, Yuanyuan was diagnosed with glaucoma in her right eye and needed surgery. In July 2022, Wu Zuohong performed a Schlemm's canal incision on Yuanyuan's right eye under general anesthesia.

"There are many types of glaucoma surgeries. Schlemm's canalectomy is a surgery to relieve trabecular meshwork obstruction. It is a new surgery that restores the normal aqueous humor outflow pathway of the human eye and is not dependent on filtering blebs. The surgery is closer to physiology." According to Director Wu Zuohong, compared with traditional trabeculotomy, this surgery is more effective in lowering intraocular pressure.

In May 2023, Director Wu Zuohong performed a second-stage artificial lens implantation surgery on Yuanyuan's eyes. She also told Yuanyuan's parents to return to the hospital for a follow-up check on time.

In May 2024, Yuanyuan came to the hospital for another checkup and was found to have high intraocular pressure in her left eye again, so Director Wu Zuohong performed a scleral venous sinus incision (Schlemm's canal incision) on Yuanyuan's left eye. Last week, when Yuanyuan came for a checkup, the intraocular pressure in both eyes was well controlled.

Director Wu Zuohong reminded that congenital cataracts are not terrible, and most patients can regain their sight after surgery. What is really terrible are some serious postoperative complications: such as glaucoma and inflammatory reactions. Moreover, children are a special group, and their eyeballs are in the development stage, and the eyeball tissue is also very delicate. Inflammatory reactions, secondary glaucoma, refractive errors, amblyopia, nystagmus, etc. may occur after surgery. In particular, glaucoma often comes silently, and most of them are painless, which is difficult for children and parents to detect. If it is not discovered and treated in time, the child may be blind for life.