A team of doctors from an eye hospital in Mumbai which conducted eye surgeries on the youth injured due to pellet guns during clashes in Kashmir, today said it would take around six months to know how many of the patients were improving.
"Situation is quite bad because there are 210 injuries and they have done 184 primary repairs. Among them 110 are requiring vitreous and retina surgeries and personally I have done 40 and my team has done six.
"It was quite tough because wherever the injury was in centre, thats is a problem. Some patients had detachment that was more complex and many had corneal injury in the front of eye.
"The final vision it will take minimum six weeks to six months to know how many are improving," Dr S Natarajan who led the team of doctors told reporters here.
The doctor said the chances of recovery of the injured would depend on the kind of damage to the eye.
"Chances will depend on the where the damage is and that is what we have to wait for six weeks. I'm coming back in three weeks to check," he said.
Natarajan said he had seen such a scale of injuries for the first time in his life.
"This is the first time I am seeing injuries like this in eyes ... I have seen pellet injuries by toy guns but not like this. This is like a history. It was like a demand for my professional skills.
Natarajan said a pellet hitting an eye was like shooting a tomato.
"It (shrinkage) can happen. The problem of injury is that somewhere pellet has torn the eye and inside contents has come out. It is like shooting a tomato and when contents come out then you can't do anything.
"Sometimes along with it so many things go out or the eye is torn," he said.
The doctor said the team has decided to come once a month and follow up the patients for a year.
"I do not think anybody needs to be flown out even though four have been already sent, because the department is well equipped and doctors are well trained.
"Two have come and two more are coming from Maharashtra. I will come once a month. Two are staying. Some more doctors will come," he said.
Meanwhile, an official spokesman said the team has conducted 46 eye surgeries in three days on youth injured due to pellet guns during clashes in Kashmir over the past three weeks.
