Silicone oil barrier sutures in Aphakic eyes with iris defects

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of silicone oil barrier sutures in aphakic eyes with iris defects. Methods: Sixteen aphakic and iris-defective eyes of 16 patients who underwent a pars plana vitrectomy procedure with silicone oil tamponade because of retinal detachment were included in this retrospective study. Silicone oil barrier sutures were placed as a grid pattern within the plane of the previous iris after vitrectomy and before silicone oil injection. Results: The mean follow-up time after silicone oil barrier suture operations was 12.0 ± 6.8 months. Silicone oil was present in the anterior chamber in five eyes (31%) at the last visit. These eyes also had hypotony, band keratopathy, and anterior proliferative vitreoretinopathy. Conclusion: In this study, silicone oil barrier sutures were proven to be safe and effective in preventing silicone oil-corneal endothelium touch in aphakic eyes with iris defects, unless hypotony was present because of anterior proliferative vitreoretinopathy.