Nigerians More Receptive To Laser Surgery

Nigerians are opting for laser surgery as an alternative to open surgery in the treatment of glaucoma.

Dr. Magdalene Ajani, the Treasurer of the Ophthalmological Society of Nigeria, Abuja Chapter, disclosed this in an interview in Abuja on Monday.

Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases, which cause progressive damage of the optic nerve at the point where it leaves the eyes to carry visual information to the brain.

Ajani said that laser surgery had recorded a high success rate in Nigeria because it was done by professionals.

“Nigerians are quite receptive to laser; they actually walk in and say we hear you can do glaucoma surgery with laser. People actually opt for laser first over the open surgery.

“Lasers are successful in Nigeria, at least, for the centres that are doing it in Nigeria.

“We did a preliminary report and we found out that it is successful. We get a percentage reduction like every other person around the world is getting and patients are doing very well.”

Ajani said that laser was safe but was best used as primary treatment before other drugs were introduced.

“In terms of pressure reduction, you get a pressure reduction far better when you use it as primary treatment than when you use it after three or four drugs,” she said.

She said that the procedure for laser surgery took about 10 minutes but the patient was kept in the hospital for about an hour for observation.

She, however, said that laser surgery was more expensive than the open surgery.

Ajani said that the patient probably would spend from N50,000 to N100,000 per session.

She said patients could have many sessions as long as the person lived with the glaucoma.

“If the patient’s pressure is not doing well, you may want to repeat the laser, the selective laser trabeculoplasty you could actually repeat every six months, but for the argon laser you cannot repeat,” Ajani said.

She said that some complications, such as bleeding, pain and inflammatory response could occur during the laser surgery, hence, the need for it to be done by an expert.

Ajani added that the risk involved in laser surgery was minimal when compared to open surgery.

“In open surgery, you can actually finish the surgery and have a lens touch and the patient is down with cataract which can happen almost immediately.

The doctor said that the glaucoma society tried to find ways of reducing the cost of drugs for glaucoma patients.

“What glaucoma society is trying to do is to organise the glaucoma patients’ association.

“When glaucoma patients come together, they can approach industries, individuals to say, we have issues and we need help,” he said.

Ajani said that the society talked to well-meaning Nigerians, who were willing to contribute to a special fund through which patients could access treatments in hospitals.

She said that there were six centres scattered around the country, which offered laser surgery in the treatment of glaucoma.