Should We Be Doing Early Vitrectomy for Vitreous Hemorrhage?
October 24, 2010
A small study confirmed suspicions that early vitrectomy for vitreous hemorrhage detected retinal tears (almost 50%) missed by ultrasound. Complications of surgery were low (less than 5%). Perhaps it’s time we re-consider our conservative approach and thus prevent more retinal detachments by catching these tears early.
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One Response to “Should We Be Doing Early Vitrectomy for Vitreous Hemorrhage?”
I could not agree more. We should be operating sooner on vitreous hemorrhage because the complication rate is so much smaller than the potential for missing a retinal tear.
A missed retinal tear has potentially blinding consequences as a retinal detachment may develop while you are waiting for the hemorrhage to clear. Besides, there is no guarantee that the hemorrhage will resolve on its own.
In my experience, intraocular infection is quite low in retinal surgery. The other serious potential complication is the development of a retinal tear from the operation itself. This, too, is estimated to be about 1-3%, much lower than the risk of missing a tear.
Randall V. Wong, M.D.
Retina Specialist
http://www.RetinaEyeDoctor.com
