The elderly man had hunchback and pulmonary insufficiency and could not lie flat. The doctor broke the routine and changed him from sitting to "standing" to ensure the success of the operation

Due to the special body position requirements of eye surgery, eye surgeons at home and abroad currently generally hold the scalpel in their hands and adjust the microscope with their feet. The surgeon needs to adopt a "sitting position" to make the surgical movements smoother and more precise, ensuring the success of the operation.

Recently, the Aier Eye Hospital affiliated to Wuhan University received an 80-year-old patient with entropion. The patient was unable to lie flat due to hunchback and lung failure. The chief surgeon, Lu Xiulan, deputy chief physician of the hospital's eyelid and orbital disease/ocular plastic surgery department, changed the conventional way of performing surgery while sitting and successfully performed the surgery on the elderly man in a standing position throughout the entire process.

Ms. Yan, 83 years old this year, lives in Hongshan District. More than ten years ago, she experienced foreign body sensation, catching and pain in both eyes. She bought eye drops at a pharmacy and the symptoms improved slightly after using them. But once she stopped using the eye drops, the symptoms came back. Last week, accompanied by her family, she came to the Aier Eye Hospital affiliated to Wuhan University for treatment.

After examination, it was found that the elderly man's right eye could only see a finger shaking 20 cm in front of his eyes, and the eyelashes of his upper eyelid fell towards the eyeball and touched the eyelid margin and curled inward; the vision of his left eye was 0.08, and the eyelashes of his upper eyelid fell towards the eyeball and touched the eyelid margin and curled inward, covering four-fifths of the pupil.

The old man was diagnosed with entropion and trichiasis and needed surgery. However, due to his hunchback and lung dysfunction, he could not lie flat, so the doctor could not sit and had to stand to perform the surgery. This put forward extremely high requirements for surgical stability and surgical experience.

Lu Xiulan decided to complete the eye surgery for the elderly woman while standing. Photo by correspondent Pei Nishang

After careful discussion and surgical planning, the lead surgeon, Lu Xiulan, deputy chief physician of the eyelid and orbital disease/ocular plastic surgery department, decided to complete the operation for the elderly man while standing throughout the entire process.

"Add another pillow, raise the head and waist, and go slowly, so that the old man can lie more comfortably..." In the operating room, the medical staff carefully carried the old man to the operating table and adjusted the head position for the operation. One hour later, the old man's operation was successfully completed.

Director Lu Xiulan introduced that "the hospital encounters many patients with special circumstances like Ms. Yan. We always try our best to solve the problems for the patients and allow them to complete the operation smoothly."