King Hamad American Mission Hospital is barely six months old but thousands of patients have already benefitted from its wide scope of healthcare services. In this issue, we are focusing on some of the newer services offered by two departments in specific, Ophthalmology and ENT.
ENT – NEW DOCTORS, NEW TECH AND BETTER SERVICES
King Hamad American Mission Hospital has expanded its resources in the ear, nose and throat speciality and provided Bahrain access to better services with the addition of new doctors and the acquisition of state-of-the-art equipment.
How has this enhanced patient care, you ask? Dr Ranjit Peter, of the ENT department, explains that for instance the endoscopic ear surgery has now been made into a simple day care procedure with minimal pain and quick recovery. In this treatment, a hole in the eardrum is easily corrected endoscopically due to the addition of skilled surgical teams and new tech.
TACKLING SLEEP APNEA
Research suggests that over 1.3 billion people across the world suffer from obstructive sleep apnea and the numbers have been definitely on the rise in Bahrain.
Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. At KHAMH, treatment of Snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea includes evaluation of the upper airway, Endoscopy, and Coblator-assisted surgery for indicated patients.
Once OSA and its cause are confirmed in the patient, doctors at the KHAMH can treat the root causes like enlarged adenoids with coblation adenoidectomy and tonsillectomy. Here, both these procedures can be done with minimal pain and no bleeding. The new facility also allows Coblation Turbinoplasty for nose blockage (lahmiya in the nose).
ADVANCED EYE CARE TECHNOLOGY
The Ophthalmology department has the latest equipment to help evaluate, analyse, and correct vision in a swifter and more efficient manner.
According to a study in the late 90’s, the most common eye problem in Bahrain was cataract at 52 per cent, followed by glaucoma at 11 per cent; this number is expected to have risen significantly in recent times as research says approximately 20 million cataract operations are performed each year in the world.
For cataract removal, a phacoemulsification machine is used at the KHAMH; this device breaks up and removes the lens of the affected eyes.
Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that can cause vision loss and blindness by damaging the optic nerve. The symptoms can start so slowly that you may not notice them. The only way to find out if you have glaucoma is to get a comprehensive dilated eye exam.
From phoropter to fundus camera, KHAMH’s high-tech ophthalmology equipment is being used in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy, macular oedema, central serous retinopathy, glaucoma, keratoconus and angio-OCT according to Dr Rushabh Doshi of the Opthalmology department.
The availability of advanced equipment along with qualified doctors makes KHAMH the ideal place to get treatments or surgeries for eyes, ears, nose and throat.
