Surgeons at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital have performed live specialist surgery to over 100 trainee doctors at an Italian conference and over 1,000 online.
Consultant Ophthalmologist and Vitreoretinal Surgeons Felipe Dhawahir-Scala and Niall Patton each performed a Vitreoretinal (VR) procedure on two patients, which was live streamed to an audience hundreds of miles away.
The first surgery was led by Consultant Surgeon Felipe Dhawahir-Scala who performed a VR technique that he introduced to the UK in 2011. His patient suffered sight-loss due to a dislocated intraocular lens. Supported by a team of theatre nurses, Felipe successfully regained the patient’s vision by removing the dislocated lens and inserting a retro pupillary clipped lens.
Felipe is the first to have performed this surgery live at an international conference, with approximately 1,000 doctors from around the world tuning in online to watch him perform the operation.
The five-day conference, E-Learning Ocular Surgery (ELOS), held in Milan featured one live surgery from a different area of the globe each day, with two surgeries broadcast live from Manchester Royal Eye Hospital.
The livestream which was broadcasted worldwide online throughout the week provided a platform for thousands of surgeons to find simple solutions to complex problems.
Consultant Surgeon at MREH Felipe Dhawahir-Scala said “I have performed live surgery at conferences internationally a number of times but this is first time that we have been able to showcase the brilliant technical, surgical procedures that we carry out on a daily basis at MREH.”
“Participating in this conference has provided us with a fantastic opportunity to share our learning and techniques with hundreds of other retinal surgeons, highlighting MREH as a leading eye hospital and VR unit worldwide.”
Consultant Surgeon Niall Patton “Being able to represent MREH internationally by participating in conferences such as ELOS and sharing our leading expertise has been fantastic. It has been great to be able to do this from our hospital in Manchester, really putting MREH on the map and showcasing how we provide a service of excellence to all our patients.”
