Patients undergoing eye surgery in Bristol can now benefit from a procedure which means they do not need stitches.

The technique, now in use at Bristol Eye Hospital, speeds up the process so people can get out of hospital more quickly and waiting times are shortened.

It also means that nine out of 10 patients no longer need to have procedures under general anaesthetic, removing some of the complications that can occur as a result.

Previously the surgery involved putting small instruments in through the outer eye and stitches would be needed to close the area afterwards.

With the new procedure, smaller, disposable instruments are put into the eye using a plastic tube, and at the end of surgery they can be removed and the wound is so small that it heals itself.

The University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust (UHBristol) site is the first in the West to use the new technique to mend retinas, deal with bleeding at the back of the eye, or inflammation and damage caused by diabetes.

Consultant ophthalmic surgeon Richard Haynes said: "Conventional eye operations leave an average of eight stitches in the patient's eye.

"This can make them sore and it can take more than four weeks for the stitches to dissolve. Also, there is more of an infection risk, as well as discomfort and inflammation.

"Even with a microscope you cannot see where the wounds were – it is a real, massive change.

"The new procedure is much less invasive and it is less of a trauma particularly for those patients who are more sensitive, such as children.

"All patients who go through it will appreciate the more comfortable outcome and the much quicker recovery.

"Another advantage is that it is quicker to do the operation.

"It saves 10 minutes at the beginning of surgery and a further 10 minutes at the end, and that is fantastic."

The sutureless surgery was trialled in Bristol early last year and now almost 100 operations have been carried out using the new technique.