Silicone oil is a tamponade commonly used in complex vitreoretinal surgery. In patients with aphakia, especially with iris loss, there is a risk of silicone oil prolapsing into the anterior chamber, which can subsequently lead to keratopathy and glaucoma. To prevent this, silicone oil retention sutures were first described by Dean Eliott and Ronald Gentile in 2010. This video illustrates a novel technique for silicone oil retention sutures in a 71-year-old patient with retinal detachment, aphakia, glaucoma and minimal residual iris tissue. The five-point star technique may offer advantages over other retention suture approaches; these include fortified barricade, reduced suture exposure, surgical efficiency and ease of suture removal. The described patient has done well postoperatively, with improved visual acuity and no anterior migration of silicone oil.

This video was noted as being one of the Best of AAO 2023.