RESEARCH ARTICLE
The Impact of Delayed Silicone Oil Removal on Visual Acuity after Pars Plana Vitrectomy: A Cross-sectional Study
Nakhleh Abu-Yaghi1, *, Joud Al Karmi2, Maryam Alani2, Mohammad Al-Ani2, Mina Al-Wandawi2, Laith Halaseh2, Mohammad Karajeh1, Mutasem Elfalah1, Abdul Hakeem AL Obaidy1, Bisan Abusalah1, Saif Aldeen Alryalat1
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2023Volume: 17
E-location ID: e187436412307140
Publisher ID: e187436412307140
DOI: 10.2174/18743641-v17-230811-2023-15
Article History:
Received Date: 16/04/2023Revision Received Date: 15/06/2023
Acceptance Date: 26/06/2023
Electronic publication date: 15/08/2023
Collection year: 2023

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Aims:
This study aimed to compare the effects of delayed silicone oil (SO) removal on visual acuity (VA) in eyes that underwent pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) and oil injection for retinal detachment (RD) or vitreous hemorrhage (VH) with patients who retained SO tamponade for longer periods of time.
Methods:
This was a retrospective analysis of 212 consecutive eyes that underwent PPV and had SO tamponade for more than one year. Phakic eyes also underwent phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation at the same surgery, rendering all cases pseudophakic. The cases were followed up post-operatively, and VA data were documented before SO, with SO, and after SO, if removed.
Results:
RD was the indication for surgery in 165 eyes (77.8%), while 47 (22.2%) underwent PPV and SO injection for VH. The difference in VA gain was statistically significant between RD cases who had SO removal and those who had not (P= 0.047). Meanwhile, the difference was not statistically significant in the VH group.
Conclusion:
In this cohort of patients who underwent PPV and SO injection, delayed oil removal in cases operated for RD repair resulted in an improvement in VA despite prolonged oil tamponade for one year or more, compared to similar patients who still had the SO in situ. For VH cases, this effect was less pronounced.