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Anaesthetics left her blind for 10 years

Woman, who nearly died during cataract surgery, regains sight.

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Sugandha Tirlotkar, 56, a mother of three, spent the past 10 years in complete darkness. Finally, light dawned when the Chembur resident visited an ophthalmic surgeon and underwent a cataract surgery.

Sugandha was diagnosed with cataract when she was 46. She was advised a simple surgery. “The doctor said it would take just about an hour, and I could go home in a day,” the woman recalled.
Unfortunately, neither Sugandha nor the surgeon operating on her knew that she was allergic to anaesthetic drugs. She suffered a severe allergic reaction to the anaesthesia administered to her, and suffered a heart attack on the operating table.

“She almost died. It took her 10 days in the ICU to recover and return home,” Sitaram Tirlotkar, her husband, said. Sugandha was so traumatised by the mishap that she refused to visit any hospital for the next 10 years.

“She was scared out of her wits, and refused to go to any doctor. Her cataract worsened, and she lost complete vision,” Sitaram, a retired petrol pump employee, said.

It was only after the mishap on the operating table that Sugandha underwent a detailed sensitivity test. It revealed that she was allergic to xylocaine, citanest, bueanest and provocaine — all vital ingredients in anaesthesia. It was also found out that she was hypertensive.

Finally, after 10 years, a next-door neighbour convinced Sugandha to visit one of the surgeons at Aryan Hospital, Kurla.

“She was extremely scared and unhappy. She needed help even to climb the few stairs to enter the hospital,” eye surgeon Dr Tripti Mongia said.

Fortunately for Sugandha, the past 10 years have seen tremendous progress in the field of ophthalmology, and that made it possible for Mongia to perform the cataract surgery without anaesthesia.

Sugandha’s right eye was operated on February 25, and she was released from the hospital three weeks later. “We used non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory eye drops for three days prior to the surgery. We also applied a drop of topical anaesthesia and an anaesthetic jelly to make the procedure pain free,” Mongia said. The surgery took her just 15 minutes.

With her vision back after 10 years, Sugandha is once again watching TV, reading books and cooking for her family. She has decided to carry with her a laminated copy of her sensitivity test report whenever she visits a hospital again. “I do not want to take any chances with my second life,” she said.

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