On October 1, the One-Day Ophthalmology Center started operating on the Gyula Kenézy Campus of the University of Debrecen Clinical Center. In the center created by the former Department of Ophthalmology, cataract and eyelid surgeries are most often performed, and artificial intelligence is already used for artificial lens design.
Almost 90 percent of ophthalmic surgeries can be performed in one-day surgery. In this case, patients can return home within 24 hours of the operation, most often on the day of the operation, or spend a maximum of one night in the medical facility.
In the framework of one-day care, we most often perform cataract and eyelid surgery, in addition, we also deal with the surgical and pharmaceutical therapy of glaucoma, corneal changes, retinal diseases, and some pediatric ophthalmological diseases. Furthermore, in close cooperation with the Orthopedic and Traumatology Clinic, we participate in accident care
– said Zoltán Sohajda, habilitated university associate professor.
The specialist has been leading the former department since 2004, and from October 1, 2023, he will continue his work as center manager at the head of the 20-bed One-Day Ophthalmology Center. According to Zoltán Sohajda, there is a great demand for a center specializing in one-day interventions, both from the profession and from patients. The development of eye surgery technologies and the frequent use of modern, minimally invasive procedures further strengthen the spread of this form of care.
New surgical procedures and devices are constantly being introduced, which allow interventions to be performed through smaller and smaller incisions. As a result, patients experience less pain and recover faster. For example, we used to use 1-1.5 millimeter incisions during nerve membrane operations, but today only tenth-millimeter incisions are needed. The incisions used during cataract surgery are also only 2.5 millimeters. These very small wounds no longer require stitches
– the specialist informed.
In order to provide the highest level of patient care at the One-Day Ophthalmology Center, artificial intelligence is already used when necessary for the precise and reliable planning of artificial lenses implanted during cataract surgery. Artificial intelligence optimizes the diopter of the implanted artificial lens based on personalized needs, so the patient no longer needs to wear glasses for close or distant vision.
Cataract surgeries are the most frequently performed interventions in modern eye surgery. About 75,000 to 80,000 such surgeries take place in Hungary every year. Almost 3,500 interventions are performed annually at the Gyula Kenézy Kenézy Campus of the Clinical Center, which makes it one of the institutions with the most operations in the country.
The department, operating as the predecessor of the One-Day Ophthalmology Center, was founded in 1955. Over the decades, it has become one of the most important ophthalmology centers not only in the region, but also in the country, where 4,500 inpatients are treated annually, and the outpatient turnover exceeds 80,000. The head of the center recalled that the institution played a pioneering role in the modernization of glaucoma surgeries. In 2017, the so-called carbon dioxide laser surgical procedure was used here for the first time, which made it possible to reduce intraocular pressure more effectively and with less trauma than ever before. In addition, from the beginning of the 2000s until 2022, conjunctiva support surgery was performed here in Hungary, which is a special procedure to stop the gradually worsening high myopia of childhood.
Zoltán Sohajda emphasized that these results would not have been possible without the commitment of the staff, and he is confident that the 67 staff working at the center, including 15 ophthalmologists, will continue to participate dedicatedly in achieving future goals.
In order to improve the quality of patient care, they plan to modernize the institution with the support of the Management of the Clinical Center. The equipment park will soon be expanded with a new angiograph and they plan to purchase a new operating microscope, and they want to introduce new therapeutic and surgical procedures, primarily for the treatment of glaucoma patients.
In the future, the One-Day Ophthalmology Center will contribute to the optimization of ophthalmic surgeries performed at the Clinical Center. One-day ophthalmic procedures are mostly performed at the Kenézy Gyula Campus, while more complex procedures that require a longer clinical stay, such as corneal transplants, and oncological and nerve surgery, are typically performed at the Eye Clinic on the Nagyerdei Campus.
(unideb.hu)
