Saudi doctor restores sight to French citizen using innovative procedure

A Saudi doctor on scholarship in France performed an innovative medical procedure to restore the sight of a near-blind person; state news agency SPA reported on Sunday.

Dr. Amr Abu Khashaba; along with his French colleagues at La Croix University Hospital in Lyon; came up with a different method of implanting the lens onto the patient; which involved reducing the length of the incision.

The operation; applied to very few worldwide; included also a microscopic examination and extracting of the old lens to implant the new one. The procedure on the patient; performed under local anesthesia; also took about an hour and a half.

Dr. Khashaba; a physician on scholarship from King Abdulaziz University in Rabigh; also specializes in retina surgery within the Saudi-French Medical Program.

Dr. Khashaba explained the new method does not require the lens to be also sutured into the wall of the eye; but rather automatically fixed through a natural process of self-fixation.

Word of the operation's success spread; and attempts are now being made have it done to more eye patients and fully verify the extent of its effectiveness.