Rapid Fire Saturday 19 May 08:00 - 09:32 Salle des Princes
D. Martins, M. Santos, V. Ruiz, V. Ribeiro, L. Silva,
PORTUGAL
Transconjunctival sutureless vitrectomy: The 23-gauge technique
PURPOSE: To present the instrumentation and technique of the 23G vitrectomy and to describe our experience in the first fifty cases in Portugal. SETTING: Routine vitrectomy surgery. METHODS: The 23G vitrectomy instrumentation developed by DORC and its technique are demonstrated and compared with the 20G and 25G Vitrectomy. The difficulties, complications and early postoperative results of the first fifty 23G vitrectomy cases performed at the Centro Hospitalar de Setúbal, E.P.E, Portugal, are presented. RESULTS: Several vitreoretinal disorders were treated with this technique: epiretinal membranes, rhegmatogenous retinal detachments, macular holes, proliferative diabetic retinopathy, vitreous hemorrhages, macular hemorrhages and endophthalmitis. In two cases with endophthalmitis we had to suture to close the sclerotomies at the end of the procedure, all others scleral tunnel incisions were rapid self-sealing and there were no complications associated with the microcannulas. There was no case of postoperative endophthalmitis and despite of some cases with intraocular pressure under 10 on the day of surgery, all the eyes returned to normal at the 24hours and had consistently normal pressure after. CONCLUSIONS: The sutureless transconjunctival 23G vitrectomy is an excellent alternative and brings advantages to the 20G and 25G vitrectomy. Due to its advantages and wide range of applications can be used in most cases.
