Lens fragment just 'complication'

United Christian Hospital yesterday denied that a lens fragment found in the eye of a patient after undergoing a cataract operation meant there had been a blunder.

'It's a type of complication that there are retained lens fragments after a cataract operation. It's a known complication recorded in medical records,' Dr Joseph Lui Cho-ze, chief executive of the Kowloon East group of hospitals, said yesterday.

The 56-year-old patient underwent a cataract operation at the hospital on August 9.

His doctor did not discover the retained lens fragment when examined the patient on August 10 and 17. But he noticed a fragment smaller than 2mm in the patient's eye during a third consultation on August 31.

The hospital arranged another operation for the patient on September 2 to remove the fragment. The patient's eyesight had not been adversely affected.

Liu said leaving lens fragments after a cataract operation was not common, but sometimes the fragments were too small to be seen easily.

Despite the incident, Lui said the patient had told the hospital he was still satisfied with the treatment and the hospital.