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Detached Retina In Left Eye Through Vitrectomy. What Is The Status Of My Vision?
Question: I had a Vitrectomy for a detached retina on 16th September on my left eye. The operation was a 100% success and the gas bubble dissipated after about 14 days. I can see with my left eye but I am now much more short sighted in that eye than previously. A few questions please:
1. Is the reason my sight has changed due to the removal of the vicious fluid in the eye and its replacement with water i.e. is the refractive index of the two substances different.
2. If the reason is due to a change in the dimension of my eye will this return to normal over time.
3. My eye is still dilated compared with my other eye. I would estimate that the pupil approximately 50% greater in diameter. The pupil does increase in diameter when I'm in the dark it just does not get as small as the other eye. Is this normal and will it improve over time?
4. How long would you typically expect before I can have a new lens prescribed for my left eye? I'm currently using a manually adjustable variable focus lens over my left glasses lens. The works very well but once my sight is stable I would like to use a conventional lens.
Brief Answer:
Vision changes significantly following vitrectomy
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Welcome to Health Care Magic.
Iam Dr. Dadapeer K and I answer health problems related to eye.
It seems from the history that you underwent vitrectomy for retinal detachment surgery and you have mentioned that the surgery was 100% successful.
Coming to your questions,
After vitrectomy surgery the status of vision undergoes significant changes with commonest being myopic shift (short sighted) as in your case. The causes for this myopic shift are many and can be because of changes in axial length of the eye, changes in the corneal curvature, use of silicone oil, scleral buckling, edema of the retina...
Coming to your question 1. Is the reason my sight has changed due to the removal of the vicious fluid in the eye and its replacement with water i.e. is the refractive index of the two substances different.
It can be because of change in refractive index.
The refractive index of vitreous is identical to that of aqueous and if silicone oil is used as vitreous substitute which has got a refractive index of 1.4 it causes significant change in refraction.However if balanced salt solution is used the change may be less.
Coming to question 2. If the reason is due to a change in the dimension of my eye will this return to normal over time.
The dimension of the eye tends to become normal by 3-6 months.
Coming to question 3. My eye is still dilated compared with my other eye. I would estimate that the pupil approximately 50% greater in diameter. The pupil does increase in diameter when I'm in the dark it just does not get as small as the other eye. Is this normal and will it improve over time?
Pupil is kept dilated following surgery by using eye drops and once you stop them it comes back to normal size over time.
Coming to question 4. How long would you typically expect before I can have a new lens prescribed for my left eye?
It depends on the final postoperative result and lenses are prescribed after 3-6 months if there are no persisting problems.
Hope I have answered your queries.
Thank you
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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