N.B. now offers retinal eye surgery, 700 procedures expected annually
Province started offering procedure in January
Despite it being a common medical procedure since it was revolutionized in the 1950s, retinal detachment surgery hasn't been available in New Brunswick hospitals — until now.
On Jan. 24, the first retinal eye surgery was performed in the province at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital in Fredericton.
It was a long time coming, but Amy McCavour, Horizon's executive regional director, is happy to see the procedure now being offered.
"We've done over 30 cases now and patients have been very pleased," McCavour said.
"The staff is pleased, the ophthalmologists are pleased that the patients don't have to travel out of province."
Before January, patients who wanted to get the surgery had to travel to either Nova Scotia or Quebec.
Now that the procedure is being offered in Fredericton, McCavour expects the province will do 700 of the procedures a year.
This isn't the first time the province has tried to start a retinal surgery program.
McCavour said the province tried to set one up 10 years ago, but the ophthalmologist left and it's taken a while to get the program started.
Now the province has two ophthalmologists trained in the surgery.
The addition of the service should actually save the province money in the long run as it won't be sending patients out-of-province for the procedure.
"It's actually about a 50 per cent cost savings to the province to be able to offer the surgery here," McCavour said.
The rate of retinal detachment is about one in 1,000, according to McCavour, with symptoms including reduced vision, cloudy vision and seeing black spots.
So far, the feedback from patients has been positive, according to McCavour, even from patients who still have to travel within the province to get the procedure.
"Fredericton is a central location … so patients don't mind travelling that distance for the service," she said.
With files from Information Morning Fredericton