Ophthalmology
Our new Ophthalmology Service offers a friendly and comprehensive small animal referral service to veterinary surgeons in general practice.
Clinics are run daily from Monday to Thursday with dedicated surgery days. The service offers excellent customer service under the supervision of a board certified specialist with repeat re-examinations by the same clinician and continued communication with the referring surgeon via faxed or e-mailed reports at the time of patient discharge. In addition, the service is supported by our Emergency and Critical Care referral service for some of the out-of-hours acute eye cases, our 24hour nursing and veterinary hospital wards and specialists in anaesthesia, oncology, medicine, dermatology and surgery.
The service is headed by Rick F Sanchez DipECVO, a diploma-holding member of our academic staff, and an internationally recognised specialist in Ophthalmology, which guarantees the patient’s assessment is overseen by an expert specialist in the field.
Clients can expect to have full investigations of their pets' problems. Initially, all patients undergo a thorough ophthalmic examination that includes slit lamp biomicroscopy, funduscopy, tonometry, tear measurement and corneal staining as well as gonioscopy, gross and fundus photography of selected cases, all of which is included in the cost of the consultation. Additional investigation such as imaging or electroretinography may require that patients are admitted to the hospital for part of the day and occasionally an overnight stay.
As part of Europe’s largest small animal teaching hospital team, the QMHA Ophthalmology Service is fully equipped to perform intraocular and extra-ocular surgery of dogs, cats and rabbits including small incision cataract surgery with Cold Star Technology and foldable acrylic intraocular lens replacement, lens luxation surgery, corneal reconstruction surgery including conjunctival pedicle grafting and corneo-limbo-conjunctival transposition as well as eyelid and third eyelid corrective and reconstructive surgery
Facilities
Diagnostic facilities include:
- Slit lamp biomicroscopy
- Funduscopy, including fundus photography
- Tonometry during consultation and IOP curves for long term glaucoma management
- Ocular surface cytology
- ERG
- On-site ultrasound, MRI and CT scanning
Treatment Facilities include:
- Zeiss VISU operating microscope
- Phacoemulsification unit AMO Signature with Cold Star Technology
- Automated vitrector
- Electrolysis unit for distichiasis removal
- Dedicated ophthalmic theatre
- 24 hour hospital wards with dedicated nursing
- Specialised anaesthesia team
The RVC's Equine Referral Hospital also offers a comprehensive ophthalmology service - see Equine Ophthalmology for details.
Key Clinicians
Rick F Sanchez
Rick is a Lecturer in Veterinary Ophthalmology at the Royal Veterinary College. He is currently leading the new Ophthalmology service at the QMHA. He is an Editorial Board Member of the Veterinary Ophthalmology Journal and an active member of the ECVO as Chair of the Communication Committee.