Cataract and Refractive Services, Cornea Institute, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
Secretary, All India Ophthalmological Society, Dr Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
Indian J Ophthalmol. 2020 Jul;68(7):1269-1276. doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_1528_20.
Cataract is the second leading cause of preventable blindness on the globe. Several programs across the country have been running efficiently to increase the cataract surgical rates and decrease blindness due to cataract. The current COVID-19 pandemic has led to a complete halt of these programs and thus accumulating all the elective cataract procedures. At present with the better understanding of the safety precautions among the health care workers and general population the Government of India (GoI) has given clearance for functioning of eye care facilities. In order to facilitate smooth functioning of every clinic, in this paper, we prepared preferred practice pattern based on consensus discussions between leading ophthalmologists in India including representatives from major governmental and private institutions as well as the All India Ophthalmological Society leadership. These guidelines will be applicable to all practice settings including tertiary institutions, corporate and group practices and individual eye clinics. The guidelines include triage, use of personal protective equipment, precautions to be taken in the OPD and operating room as well for elective cataract screening and surgery. These guidelines have been prepared based on current situation but are expected to evolve over a period of time based on the ongoing pandemic and guidelines from GoI.
白内障是全球第二大致盲原因。全国有几个项目一直在高效运行,以提高白内障手术率,减少因白内障导致的失明。目前的 COVID-19 大流行导致这些项目完全停止,从而积累了所有择期白内障手术。目前,随着医护人员和普通民众对安全防范措施的更好理解,印度政府(GoI)已批准开展眼科保健设施的运作。为了方便每个诊所的顺利运作,在本文中,我们根据包括主要政府和私人机构以及全印度眼科协会领导层的代表在内的印度领先眼科医生之间的共识讨论,制定了基于最佳实践模式的指南。这些指南将适用于包括三级医疗机构、企业和集团实践以及个体眼科诊所在内的所有实践环境。指南包括分诊、使用个人防护设备、门诊和手术室的预防措施,以及择期白内障筛查和手术。这些指南是基于当前情况制定的,但预计随着大流行的持续和印度政府的指南的变化,它们将在一段时间内不断发展。