Hyderabad’s Dr. Raja Narsing Rao, renowned for his expertise in anaesthetizing extremely low-birth-weight babies (under 1200 grams) has been invited to share his experience with the global medical fraternity at the British Ophthalmic Anesthesia Conference (BOAC) event held at the Royal Society of Medicine in London. Dr. Rao serves as Consultant at LV Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) and Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI) and is currently President of the World Congress of Ophthalmic Anaesthesia (WCOA), the Association of Indian Ophthalmic Anaesthesiologists (AIOA), and the Indian Association of Physician Assistants (IAPA). He delivered a talk on “Challenges with Newborns & Ex-Prem Babies.”

 Highlighting the urgency of the issue, Dr. Rao said that all babies born prematurely need an eye examination within 30 days of birth. He mentioned that India sees 3.6 million preterm births annually and around 10% risk of blindness if left unchecked. He informed that premature birth is also the leading cause of death in children under five. According to WHO, preterm babies are those born before 37 weeks of gestation. 

“Most ophthalmic complications occur in very low-birth-weight babies, under 1200 grams. Anaesthetizing these fragile infants is one of the biggest challenges, but our team has gained significant expertise over the years,” Dr. Rao explained. He credited the success of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) treatment to the combined efforts of anesthesiologists and surgeons, particularly Dr. Subhadra Jalali and her team at LVPEI, pioneers with over 30 years of experience in ROP care.