Vitrectomy surgery

In vitrectomy surgery, some or all of the vitreous body or liquid will be removed and replaced with a saline solution. The vitreous body is a transparent jelly like fluid which stands between the lens and the retina and more than 90 percent of its tissue is water. Most of the eye volume and its round shape is from the vitreous cavity.

To see the world around us, the light must go through the eye and reach the retina that has many light-sensitive cells. Some diseases may prevent the light to reach that point properly, like filled blood, scar or harden. This is why your surgeon suggests vitrectomy operation to improve the problem. That allows the doctor to access the back of the eye and repair damaged parts. The good news is vitrectomy is an outpatient eye operation and most of the patients would be discharged after a short period.

When do you need a Vitrectomy surgery?

Vitrectomy surgery is commonly used to drain vitreous liquid which has been cloudy, bleeding or filled with extra mass of tissues. Here we note some other problems which could be treated by vitrectomy operation:

• inflammation in the central part of the retina
• main eye wound or injury
• when retina peels away or becomes weak and get separated from its substrate
• postoperative problems of cataract surgery
• extra mass of tissue or floaters in the vitreous humor
• retinal injuries or scar texture on the retina
• if the eye becomes abnormally swollen
• injuries which could happen throughout some surgeries as: cornea, cataract, or glaucoma
• scar made by misplacing a lens in the eye or even unclean lens
• Eye bleeding or retinal damaged vessels
• eye infections
• if there is one tiny retinal tear, lack or retinal hole on the central part of the retina. It is called macular degeneration and affects the retina
• damages to the retina made by diabetes complications that is called diabetic retinopathy (DR)

Vitrectomy complications

As we mentioned earlier, this operation is performed as an outpatient surgery, so severe complications would rarely happen. In infrequent cases, some complications may occur for the patients who had some eye problems before. Your outcome depends on your eye’s condition and the surgery process but there are some possible side effects:

• raised pressure or less pressure inside the eye
• problems in sight like blurry vision or night sight
• your retina may get detached
• your eye may get red or swollen and you feel pain
• ghost images or diplopia (double vision)
• your lens may have problem to see the right place or color of things
• there may be some wrinkles in your retina
• you may lose your sight
• retinal inflammation in the central part
• you may need another glasses because of the vision change
• more vitreous bleeding
• you may have eye infection
• there is also a low risk of allergy to anesthesia and the reactions after it such as heart attack
• cataract may happen