Abstract
Purpose :
to report the results of small gauge pars plana vitrectomy (SGV) in eyes with symptomatic vitreous floaters, in terms of complications, visual improvement and patient’s satisfaction.
Methods :
we retrospectively evaluated 75 eyes of 63 patients who underwent SGV for symptomatic vitreous floaters between January 2010 and October 2015. Fourteen eyes (18.7%) underwent 23G Pars Plana Vitrectomy (PPV), 56 eyes (74.7%) 25G PPV and 5 eyes (6.6%) 27G PPV.
Mean age at surgery was 69.0±8.8 years. Thirty-three eyes (44%) were phakic and 42 eyes (56%) were pseudophakic. Twelve phakic eyes underwent combined PPV plus phacoemulsification.
Mean best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) before surgery was 0.62±0.28 (decimal). Mean follow-up time was 264 days (max 1813, min 32 days). Visual improvement, success rate and surgical complications were recorded. Moreover, a telephone quality of life survey was conducted.
Results :
BCVA thirty days after surgery was 0.74±0.30. Four patients (5.3%) presented complications one day after surgery. We observed one asymptomatic intraocular hypertension (30 mmHg), one intraocular hypotension (6 mmHg). One patient developed haemovitreous and one a Toxic Anterior Segment Syndrome.
During follow-up, thirteen eyes (17.3%) developed mild complications: three patients developed Irvine-Gass Syndrome and three patients new symptomatic floaters. The most frequent complication was cataract: 7 phakic eyes (33.3%) underwent phacoemulsification during follow up. One patient (1.3%) developed retinal detachment 27 days after SGV and required additional surgery. 85.3% of the patients interviewed reported high or at least considerable level of nuisance due to the floaters before surgery. 88.3% reported low level or absence of nuisance after SGV. 94% of patients were either satisfied or very satisfied with results. Satisfaction rates averaged 9.3/10.
Conclusions :
according to our survey, vitreous floaters can seriously affect the patient’s quality of life.
Despite limitations of our study, SGV for symptomatic floaters appears to be effective in removing or decreasing symptoms, with low complication rate and high patient’s satisfaction.
However, patients need to be widely informed about increased risks of cataract progression and retinal detachment.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.