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What Causes Floaters In Eyes After A Retinal Repair Surgery?

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Posted on Mon, 2 Jun 2014
Question: Last year I experienced a retinal tear into the macula. Within 48 hours a vitrectomy and retinal repair surgery was done. Recovery went "as expected" without incident. I sustained optic nerve damage and I now have glaucoma, both secondary to the retinal repair surgery. This past April I had surgery to remove a "laser induced" cataract which was also caused by the retinal repair surgery. Over the Mother's Day weekend I started seeing floaters. My eye surgeon instructed me to lie face down and to call if further symptoms developed. He said something about a sort of pinning procedure that may need to be done. An elderly friend of mine, whose experience has been similar to mine, had such a "pinning" procedure & he told me it was the most painful experience he has ever had. No anesthesia at all. He had it done x1 and it didn't help. Then he had it done a second time, and he stopped the procedure in the the middle of it because of the pain. He said that he has chosen to lose the eye rather than experience the pain of attempting the pinning procedure a third time. My question is this: Can you tell me what is the success rate of this pinning procedure? Do you know of any other option other than this pinning procedure?
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dadapeer K (1 hour later)
Brief Answer:
It seems like scleral buckling procedure.

Detailed Answer:
Hello Madam
Welcome to Health care magic
Iam Dr. Dadapeer k, an ophthalmologist and I answer health problems related to eye.
It seems from the history that you have undergone surgery for retinal detachment in the form of vitrectomy. Following surgery you had complications like secondary glaucoma and cataract. Cataract was treated by surgery and for secondary glaucoma you are on treatment with lumigan eye drops.
The onset of floaters indicate vitreous degenerations or vitreous floaters or risk of retinal detachment.

Probabaly your doctor is panning for scleral buckling procedure. There is no surgery called as pinning procedure probably he has told about buckling procedure.
The treatment options for retinal detachment are
Retinopexy which is done by injection of air and patient has to maintain prone head down position after the procedure
Scleral buckling combined with cryo therapy and or laser therapy
Vitrectomy with silicone oil or long acting gases like C3F8

Of all these procedures relatively painful one is scleral buckling. Hence I think your doctor has told about this procedure. In this procedure a silicone sponge is sutured to the sclera in a circle fashion to prevent the opening of the retinal tear by providing a indentation force.
It provides good results in primary surgeries and in cases where macula is not involved. In these cases it provides success of 80%.
In cases with macular involvement the vision improvement after surgery cannot be predicted.
Since you are having glaucoma with optic nerve damage the improvement in vision after the procedure cannot be predicted.

If you can give details like
Vision in the affected eye now and status of the retina and macula, I can answer this question.


Hope the information is helpful to you

Thank you

With regards
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
Dr.
Dr. Dadapeer K

Ophthalmologist

Practicing since :2003

Answered : 5709 Questions

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What Causes Floaters In Eyes After A Retinal Repair Surgery?

Brief Answer: It seems like scleral buckling procedure. Detailed Answer: Hello Madam Welcome to Health care magic Iam Dr. Dadapeer k, an ophthalmologist and I answer health problems related to eye. It seems from the history that you have undergone surgery for retinal detachment in the form of vitrectomy. Following surgery you had complications like secondary glaucoma and cataract. Cataract was treated by surgery and for secondary glaucoma you are on treatment with lumigan eye drops. The onset of floaters indicate vitreous degenerations or vitreous floaters or risk of retinal detachment. Probabaly your doctor is panning for scleral buckling procedure. There is no surgery called as pinning procedure probably he has told about buckling procedure. The treatment options for retinal detachment are Retinopexy which is done by injection of air and patient has to maintain prone head down position after the procedure Scleral buckling combined with cryo therapy and or laser therapy Vitrectomy with silicone oil or long acting gases like C3F8 Of all these procedures relatively painful one is scleral buckling. Hence I think your doctor has told about this procedure. In this procedure a silicone sponge is sutured to the sclera in a circle fashion to prevent the opening of the retinal tear by providing a indentation force. It provides good results in primary surgeries and in cases where macula is not involved. In these cases it provides success of 80%. In cases with macular involvement the vision improvement after surgery cannot be predicted. Since you are having glaucoma with optic nerve damage the improvement in vision after the procedure cannot be predicted. If you can give details like Vision in the affected eye now and status of the retina and macula, I can answer this question. Hope the information is helpful to you Thank you With regards