JAN 28, 2009
By Lisa B. Arbisser, MD
Cataract/Anterior Segment
I believe that industry should facilitate the use of sutureless 23-gauge technology for the anterior segment surgeon to perform anterior vitrectomy through the pars plana. This article shows, through evaluation with anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS OCT), that these oblique tunneled incisions parallel to the limbus are securely closed on postoperative days one and eight.
Subjects of this prospective, observational case series were 14 patients who underwent sutureless three-port pars plana vitrectomy with oblique incisions with a 23-gauge trocar/cannula microincision surgical system. The authors examined the patients with AS OCT (Visante OCT, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc., Dublin, Calif.) on postoperative days one and eight and found closed wounds in all cases.
As I have been teaching for many years and the cataract video case studies spotlight at the 2008 Academy Annual Meeting explored, the pars plana approach is the most efficient and ultimately the safest in the setting of unplanned, as well as planned, vitrectomy. I hope that ophthalmologists will increasingly take advantage of skills transfer opportunities and be able to include these techniques in their surgical armamentariums.
Financial Disclosures
Dr. Arbisser has received honoraria and research grants from Alcon Laboratories, Inc., and Advanced Medical Optics, Inc.