For many years, Dominic McHugh has visited developing countries to teach and treat adults and children who have blinding eye disorders.
He is a member of the visiting faculty of the international charity 'ORBIS', the centerpiece being a DC10 airliner that has been converted into a fully equipped ' flying eye hospital'.
During the ORBIS missions, the aero plane is based at the local airport and surgery is performed in the operating theatre on the plane.
The doctors from the country visited assist at the surgery and they also may observe the procedures from the onboard lecture room.
Dr McHugh's work with ORBIS has taken him to Bangladesh, Myanmar and Tanzania, where he has performed complex vitreoretinal surgery, cataract procedures and laser treatments.
He has also carried out any trips abroad on an individual basis, most recently to Pyongyang in North Korea where he taught and performed surgery at the Red Cross Hospital. He is currently in the process of setting up a visiting fellowship for overseas trainee doctors to allow them to visit the United Kingdom and spend sometime attached to an eye unit to further their education and training. The following link provides useful information on the work or ORBIS and the photo gallery displays images from some of Dominic McHugh's oversea missions.
www.orbis.org
A glimmer of hope to Khine Htoo’s misfortune
In June 1999, 19-year-old Khine Htoo had been working at the Mineshu jade mine in northern Myanmar for over one year.
His job was to set the dynamite for blasting. One stifling hot afternoon, Khine Htoo was setting up the dynamite in the mineshaft when it suddenly exploded in his hands.
The explosion blew off his forearms and shot debris into his face.
Khine was rushed to the district hospital where doctors operated on his arms, but no one was able to work on the damage to his eyes. His right eye had a huge, gaping wound. Doing the best they could, the doctors sewed up the wound.
Khine was then sent to Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat (EENT) Hospital in Yangon by truck. The trip took two nights, and the poor condition of the roads made the trip extremely jarring and painful for Khine.
At EENT, the doctors determined that it was too late to do anything for Khine’s right eye. When they examined his left eye, they saw that there was debris from the explosion in the eye. They prescribed eye drops and asked Khine to come back for regular check ups.
Every time he came for an examination he was given more eye drops, but his vision did not improve.
Dr McHugh removed the vitreous hemorrhage and repaired the retinal detachment, and the holes in the iris. With his vitrectomy cutters, Dr McHugh removed a large foreign body from the vitreous cavity. The retina had a tear at the edge and was beginning to detach, so gaDrs was injected to flatten the retina to prevent further detachment. Upon completing the operation, Dr McHugh felt encouraged that Khine’s vision would be much improved.
Khine’s surgery not only gave the doctors in Yangon exposure on how to manage a complicated case, but also on many of the techniques used in vitreous retina surgery.
After one week, Khine’s vision had improved to 20/200 (the top line on the eye chart), and his vision should improve even further.
The case of Khine Htoo demonstrates the need for improved medical knowledge. The rising tide of avoidable blindness can be significantly limited with greater understanding. This is why it is of vital importance that ORBIS works to train doctors and continuously improves the level of their clinical and surgical skills.
