ENT surgeon Dr. N Vishnu Swaroop Reddy making difference by giving hearing back to the deaf

Hyderabad: It took 16 years to document cases of patients but it yielded data that no ear, nose, and throat surgeon could garner in India. Dr. N. Vishnu Swaroop Reddy, head of the department for ENT at Care Hospitals, Hyderabad, is the first surgeon in the country and the second surgeon in the world to complete 1,007 stapedotomy surgeries.

This surgery is required when patients develop the condition of conductive hearing loss due to otosclerosis. More than 90% of people develop this condition caused by the abnormal hardening of the bone. This happens when the bone in the middle ear hardens and causes a condition where the sound can be heard in the back of the ear but not in the front.

Dr. Reddy says, "Stapedotomy surgery is performed using skeeter drill and self-retaining ear canal retractor which has the highest results and 99% success rate. The patient responds to the hearing on the operation table. We test it then and there and then follow up with the patient for a year. For the last 16 years, the team at Care Hospitals has performed the surgeries for all age-groups."

For Dr. Reddy, this work has helped document and analyse the problem which he asserts is very common in India.

The study is published in the Journal of Laryngology and Orology published in the United Kingdom.

Giving back to society

Dr. Reddy is from Nellore, and he felt it was his duty to go back and work for the people there. He conducted health camps in the region to identify children and adults who suffered from hearing problems. He conducted cochlear implants with the help of non-government organisations like Swarna Bharat Trust.

In 2006, he stayed with former President A.P.J Abdul Kalam in Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi, where 600 children were treated for severe deafness. These regular services to society make him feel that he has done his best for the people.

No free time for doctors

Dr. Reddy believes that in India, the health of a doctor is least important. He says, "It's only work for doctors in India. I recall my days in the United Kingdom where it was a scheduled working pattern and we were free by 5 p.m. In India, such a thing is just not possible."

His wife Dr. Shanti Reddy is a gynecologist at Apollo Hospitals.

"I was keen to start a special ENT centre in Hyderabad but refrained from doing so. I am very keen to train post-graduates in the three ENT centres of Care Hospitals. Every year, six of them enroll for the course which helps to give back to society what we have learnt from our teachers."