Causes of Failure after Initial Vitreoretinal Surgery

ABSTRACT

We reviewed the records of 23 patients who underwent repeat operation after initial vitreoretinal surgery in Chungnam National University Hospital between January 1993 and December 1993. Of 193 eyes who underwent vitreoretinal surgery in that period, 23(12%) had undergone reoperation. The most common cause of initial anatomic failure and reoperation was either new or recurrent proliferative vitreoretinopathy(10 eyes). Other causes included iatrogenic retinal tears(5 eyes), hidden retinal breaks(4 eyes), vitreous traction(1 eye), inappropriate chorioretinal adhesion(1 eye), and new break(1 eye). We performed vitreous base dissection on all 9 eyes with anterior proliferative vitreoretinopathy. With additional surgery and after a mean follow-up period of 10.4 months, 21(91%) of 23 retinas were reattached. The final cause of anatomic failure was anterior proliferative vitreoretinopathy. Of the 23 reoperated eyes, 20(87%) had postoperative visual acuity of 0.05 or better.