The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Endoscopic ear surgery `has a clear edge'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 13, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Endoscopic ear surgery `has a clear edge'

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, APRIL 12. A three-day workshop is being organised to create awareness about the use of endoscopes in ear surgery.

The workshop is being organised by the Mahalakshmi Trust of Krishna Eye and ENT Hospitals and AVM Medical ENT Research Foundation (MERF) on April 15, 16 and 17.

"Traditionally, ear surgery is done using a microscope, but we have shown that using the endoscope for ear surgery has tremendous advantages," Ravi Viswanathan, chief organiser of the event and director, AVM MERF, said today.

Having used the procedure for ear surgeries for more than five years now, he claimed that the results were better and the cost cheaper.

Local anaesthesia

In this technique, an instrument is introduced into the ear to project magnified images of the internal organs on a monitor, enabling a surgeon to get a better grasp of the structure of the area he is working on.

Only local anaesthesia will be used on the patient and the procedure itself is minimally invasive, with the patient being discharged after the mandatory observation time, according to G. Sundharkrishnan, ENT surgeon, Krishna Eye and ENT Hospitals. He will be performing live surgeries during the national conference.

The key advantage of the endoscope is its portability, unlike a stationary microscope. This will enable the doctor to carry the equipment to rural and remote areas to treat patients, Dr. Sundhar said.

The cost would work out to a third of the amount for a traditional microscope-aided surgery.

Over 200 ENT doctors from all over the country will participate in the workshop, Dr. Viswanathan said.

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