Background
Dry eye is a common condition affecting many patients after different ocular
surgeries. The recent technique of pars plana vitrectomy as 23- or 25-G
vitrectomy has an overt advantage over the traditional 20-G vitrectomy in
causing less damage to the conjunctival tissue.
Patients and methods
This is a prospective randomized study, which enrolled 16 eyes that underwent
traditional 20-G vitrectomy (group 1) and were compared with 15 eyes that
underwent 23-G vitrectomy (group 2). Preoperative and postoperative (first day,
first week, first month, and third month) Schirmer 1 (ST1) test and tear break-up
time test (TBUT) were used to evaluate the tear film amount and quality. The
postoperative symptoms and signs of dry eye were observed and compared in both
groups.
Results
No significant differences were found between the two groups regarding the mean
age, sex distribution, comorbidities, and preoperative ST1 or TBUT tests. Both
groups experienced excess tears at the first postoperative day. At the end of the first
postoperative month, group 1 showed significantly lower values of ST1 and TBUT
tests than group 2 (P=0.002 and 0.05 for both tests). Patients in the 23-G group
reported significantly less incidence of ocular pain and red eye at the first week and
first month after surgery.
Conclusion
23-G vitrectomy has less damaging effects on the conjunctival tissue, reflected as
less reduction in the tear film quantity and lower rates of dry eye, than the traditional
20-G method. |
