Ophthalmology

The Department of Ophthalmology of Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine has a long history, placing equal emphasis on inheritance and innovation, and is an important base for the treatment of eye diseases in the Yangtze River Delta region, with distinctive TCM characteristics and leading Western medical technology. The department takes Bai’s Ophthalmology, one of the hospital’s eight major schools of TCM, as its academic lineage; in clinical practice, it follows the holistic concept of “unity of humanity and nature,” emphasizing the principles of “combining syndrome differentiation with disease differentiation, combining internal treatment with external treatment, and combining TCM with Western medicine.” The department’s founder, nationally renowned TCM physician and chief physician Bai Zhongying, proposed the treatment approach: “Internal regulation as the foundation, external treatment as support, and where medication is insufficient, surgery is used.” He specializes in treating difficult-to-treat diseases such as fundus hemorrhage, ocular trauma, glaucoma, cataracts, and myopia in adolescents. The Yishi Granules he researched have demonstrated significant efficacy in myopia prevention and control and received national and provincial science and technology achievement awards. Provincial-level renowned TCM physician and chief physician Bai Chaoran advocates: “combining syndrome differentiation with disease-and-syndrome differentiation, and applying regulation together with both attacking and tonifying.” He has rich experience in keratitis, uveitis, optic disc vasculitis, and optic neuropathy. The Chinese herbal eye drops developed under his direction received the International Outstanding Achievement Award at the World Congress of Traditional Medicine, and the research on “Kangmeisan” under his direction won the Third Prize for Provincial TCM Science and Technology Progress. Chief TCM Physician Ren Zheng studied under Bai Zhongying in his early years and has long focused on TCM diagnosis and treatment of fundus diseases, uveitis, optic neuropathy, dry eye disease, and others; his syndrome differentiation is precise and his therapeutic results definite. Having gone through the transmission of several generations of renowned physicians, the department has gradually developed into an integrated ophthalmology center combining distinctive TCM features with modern technology.

The department serves the people, prevents blindness, and alleviates poverty. Since first participating, as part of the initial group, in medical support work in Mali, Africa, in the last century, the department’s efforts to prevent and treat blindness have extended from cities to remote mountainous areas, from the eastern plains of the motherland to Haixi Prefecture in Qinghai at high altitude, and as far overseas as Africa and other regions, earning high praise from patients.

Relying on the national strategy for the development of TCM and taking the construction of a “demonstration platform for collaborative innovation between TCM and Western medicine” as its goal, the Department of Ophthalmology of Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine continues to promote the standardization of traditional diagnostic and treatment techniques and the minimally invasive development of modern surgical procedures, and is committed to building an ophthalmology center for the diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases through integrated Chinese and Western medicine with international influence.

Technical Advantages

The department has established specialties in cataract and glaucoma, TCM ophthalmology, uveoretinal diseases, eyelid and lacrimal tract plastic surgery, neuro-ophthalmology, and myopia and refractive disorders, and is one of the ophthalmology centers with the most comprehensive range of subspecialties among comprehensive TCM hospitals in China. The department performs sutureless micro-incision cataract phacoemulsification combined with intraocular lens implantation and 23/25G minimally invasive complex vitreoretinal surgery, both of which are at an advanced domestic level; academic leader Chief Physician Du Ergang has extensive experience in glaucoma and was the first in Zhejiang Province to perform the “small glaucoma–cataract” combined surgery. His independently developed “seven-in-one procedure” significantly improves the prognosis of malignant glaucoma and won the “Special Prize” for New Technologies and New Projects of the hospital. The department routinely performs microsurgical correction of strabismus, ocular plastic and reconstructive surgery, and lacrimal tract plasty and recanalization. It has established a day-surgery service system, enabling the entire process of admission, surgery, and discharge to be completed on the same day, substantially reducing patients’ medical costs; during the perioperative period, it comprehensively applies distinctive TCM therapies such as oral Chinese herbal medicine, fumigation, and acupuncture, effectively shortening the postoperative recovery period and fully demonstrating the advantages of integrated Chinese and Western medicine diagnosis and treatment. The outpatient department focuses on developing a comprehensive diagnosis and treatment center for dry eye disease, integrating distinctive therapies such as Chinese herbal fumigation, meibomian gland massage, and iontophoresis; it has also established a prevention and control system for adolescent myopia, covering vision screening, refractive correction, and distinctive programs such as TCM acupuncture and auricular-point interventions. For difficult eye diseases such as uveitis and optic nerve atrophy, the department has innovatively implemented a collaborative Chinese-Western medicine diagnosis and treatment model, established distinctive diagnostic and treatment pathways, and achieved clinical efficacy at an advanced domestic level.

Academic Standing

The department is a key TCM specialty under Zhejiang Province’s 13th Five-Year Plan and a provincial exemplary guidance center for dry eye. It currently has 26 professional physicians, including 9 chief and deputy chief physicians, 3 supervisors of master’s students, and 1 provincial-level talent; holders of master’s or doctoral degrees account for 88%. Department members hold positions in multiple national and provincial academic associations, including 1 executive council member of the Ophthalmology Professional Committee of the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies, 1 committee member of the Ophthalmology Professional Committee of the Chinese Association of Integrative Medicine, 1 honorary chairperson of the Ophthalmology Branch of the Zhejiang Association of Chinese Medicine, 1 vice chairperson, and others. Relying on the teaching platform of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, the department undertakes teaching tasks including undergraduate and postgraduate training, international medical education, and standardized residency training in TCM ophthalmology, forming a disciplinary structure featuring coordinated development of medical care, education, and research.

Research Achievements

The department has strong research capabilities. It has undertaken projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation, the Provincial Natural Science Foundation, and multiple departmental- and bureau-level programs; it has published hundreds of academic papers in Chinese and English and has served as chief editor or contributing editor of nearly 30 medical works.