CAPE GIRARDEAU SURGEON TAKES SKILLS TO POLAND

The Lublin University School of Medicine Eye Hospital has 70 beds, and three operating rooms.

But viewing its medical technology and equipment is like taking a step back in time.

"The technology that eye surgeons are using there is comparable with what we were using during World War II," said Dr. Charles H. Cozean, a Cape Girardeau ophthalmologist. "The equipment, with few exceptions, reminded us of American hospitals in the 1950s."

Cozean and his surgery team recently spent five days at the Lublin, Poland, eye hospital on a mission to share their knowledge of modern cataract surgery with a number of Polish eye surgeons.

Accompanying Cozean on the visit were his wife, Carole; certified ophthalmic technician Carole Stotler; registered nurse Elizabeth Carney; and Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Essmyer. Dr. Essmyer is an anesthesiologist.

"The hospital was clean, and the Polish people were friendly, intelligent and eager to learn," Cozean said.

About 30 eye surgeons attended the live surgery courses, which included Cozean's no-stitch cataract surgery and no-needle anesthesia.

"We were busy our entire visit," Cozean said. "We operated during the mornings and conducted laboratory sessions during the afternoons."

Cozean and his surgery team were invited to visit Lublin University's medical academy by Dr. Zbigniew F. Zagorski, professor, surgeon and chairman at the school.

Cozean, a clinical professor at St. Louis University, often addresses national meetings, and his courses are available through national libraries.

Zagorski, who learned of Cozean's practice, research and development with the small-incision cataract surgery and Eximer laser, urged Cozean to teach some courses at Lublin University.

"Surgeons and patients were amazed with Dr. Essmeyer's technique of pain-free anesthesia," Cozean said.

In the United States about 30 percent of cataract surgery is done with a small incision, about 1/8-inch long. A soft replacement lens is inserted through the small hole and held in place by existing tissues in the eye.

"With such small incisions, no stitches are required," Cozean said.

In Europe, the majority of cataract surgeons make larger incisions, take the cataract out and sew up the lens.

Most eye surgeries, even in the United States, are done with local anesthesia. "You stick a needle in the eye," Cozean explained. "I have never really liked that."

Several years ago, Cozean learned of another surgeon doing surgery under no-needle, or topical, anesthesia -- a technique he adopted.

"All we do essentially is give eye drops in the eye, the same drops you get when you have an eye exam," he said.

Some companies Cozean works with sent supplies to Poland. Eye surgeons and patients in Poland have access to some new equipment and techniques thanks to two Cape Girardeau ophthalmologists -- Cozean and Dr. Richard Kies, who also visited Poland in the past six months.

Keyes visited Gdansk in July, working with Gdansk ophthalmologist Janusz Jablonski, chief of ophthalmology at the Government Eye Clinic of Gdansk.

Polish hospitals are government operated. Although a few private-practice surgeons can be found in Poland, they still have to operate at the government hospitals.

This system, Cozean said, results in a waiting list for eye surgery, in some cases up to three years.

Zagorski, in a recent letter to Cozean, expressed appreciation for the surgery team's visit to Lublin, and for surgical supplies left there.

"I have tried your technique successfully," Zagorski noted in his letter. "The incisions need not only some skill, but also ideal cutting instruments. We still have to re-use our disposable knives."

Lublin is an academic city of 500,000 that includes 16 colleges and universities. It is a historic city dating back to settlements in the seventh and eighth centuries.

The city, said Stotler and Carney, was interesting.

They visited "Majdanek," a concentration camp during World War II. The official name of the camp was "Konzentrationslager der Waffen SS Lublin," on the outskirts of Lublin. Thousands of Poles, Jews, Russians and citizens of other countries were executed at the camp.

Poland was under Communist rule until recent years when the Community Party was dissolved and democratic rule formed.

The Polish government has started a program to restructure the economy. The program includes plans to sell many government industries to private owners.

"Following our visit to Poland, we are reminded how fortunate we are as Americans to choose our own physicians and methods," Cozean said.