If you visualize the eye as a football, with the ends of the football point to the left and right (towards your nose and ear), the buckle is wrapped around each end and the top of bottom of the of the football. It is sewed into place around the outside of the eye. A scleral buckle is a band made out of silicone sponge, rubber or hard plastic. Scleral buckle surgery is one option for treating a retinal detachment. The surgeon may also inject a gas bubble if he needs to flatten the retina against the back of the eye. If the vitreous contains visually significant blood or opaque floaters that are obscuring vision, then the surgeon will also remove a portion or all of the vitreous and replace it with vitreous substitute. The surgeon typically inserts a light pipe into the eye so he can visualize the back of the eye, and then he uses a second access point to insert microsurgical equipment to delicately flatten out the macular pucker or repair the macular hole. Macular holes can also occur from eye disorders, such as high myopia (nearsightedness), a progression from a macular pucker, retinal detachment, diabetic retinopathy, and an injury to the eye.Ī surgical procedure called an epi-retinal membrane peel is performed to correct macular puckers and macular holes. PVDs can also cause a tear in the retina, which is often referred to as a macular hole. PVDs, as well as other eye conditions, may cause the cellophane-like material of the retina to wrinkle or ‘pucker.’ When a macular pucker occurs, a patient’s vision is often blurred or simply made worse. Vitreous is attached to the retina at the back of the eye, but may pull away as a posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) that causes damage to the retina. The natural vitreous is replaced with a man-made vitreous substitute, and eventually the eye will produce new vitreous to replace the vitreous substitute that is lost through the normal functioning of the eye.Īs part of the aging process, the vitreous substance in the back of our eyes will begin to aggregate into clumps and shapes that we often see as floaters.

The surgeon typically inserts a light pipe into the eye so he can visualize the back of the eye, and then he uses a second access point to insert microsurgical equipment to remove vitreous, inject vitreous substitute, and repair the retina as needed.Ī common vitrectomy procedure is to remove blood in the vitreous from leaking blood vessels caused by diabetic retinopathy, retinal vein occlusions or trauma. The eye is numbed by an anesthetic injection so that the patient does not feel the surgical procedure. Patients undergoing a vitrectomy are typically sedated to a where they are relaxed but able to answer questions and remain still. In reality, though, a vitrectomy is typically more complicated than removing and replacing vitreous. The following retina surgeries are performed by Midwest Eye Care surgeons:Ī pars plana vitrectomy is technically any surgery that involves the removal of vitreous from the back of the eye. The retina is one of the most delicate structures in our body, and retina surgery requires fine precision.

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