Outcomes following 25-gauge vitrectomies

doi:doi:10.1038/sj.eye.6702819

Eye (2008) 22, 1024–1028; doi:10.1038/sj.eye.6702819; published online 20 April 2007

Outcomes following 25-gauge vitrectomies

None of the authors hold any proprietary interests.
To the best of our knowledge and research of articles in English on PubMed and Ovid, there is no previous publication in print that displays what has been presented in this paper

L J Faia¹, C A McCannel¹, J S Pulido¹, R M Hatfield², M E Hatfield² and V E W McNulty²

¹Department of Ophthalmology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
²Retina Consultants Inc., Charleston, WV, USA

Correspondence: CA McCannel, Department of Ophthalmology, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. Tel: + 1 507 284 4567; Fax: + 1 507 284 4612; E-mail: mccannel.colin@mayo.edu

Received 14 November 2006; Revised 7 March 2007; Accepted 7 March 2007; Published online 20 April 2007.

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Abstract

Purpose

Twenty-five gauge vitrectomy surgery offers potential advantages over standard 20-gauge vitrectomy surgery, but the short- and long-term post-operative complications, such as cataract formation, are still being evaluated. This study quantifies the outcomes seen following 25-gauge vitrectomies.

Methods

This is a retrospective, consecutive, non-comparative case series of 25-gauge vitrectomies performed between January 2002 and August 2004. Cases without at least 3 months of follow-up and previous vitrectomies were excluded. Analyses were performed with t-test and Kaplan–Meier curves.

Results

Seventy-one cases met inclusion criteria. The mean age of the patients was 65 years old (SD 11 years). A variety of surgical indications were included. A statistically significant difference was seen between the mean preoperative visual acuity (20/100) and the mean visual acuity at the 3-month post-operative visit (20/60; P<0.0001). A Kaplan–Meier curve established that for all cases 63.4% of eyes required cataract extraction at 1 year. Total mean follow-up time was 8.6 plusminus 5.5 months.

Conclusions

Statistically significant improvement was seen in mean vision by 3 months following 25-gauge vitrectomy. Cataract formation after 25-gauge vitrectomies remains an important consideration.