You may develop an infection in the eye. This is called Endophthalmitis and is very rare but can give rise to serious loss of sight. Bleeding inside the eye. Retinal detachment which can happen at anytime following the surgery and will require further surgery in order to repair it.
People who have had vitrectomy surgery will experience temporary poor vision while the eye is filled with gas, but if the surgery is successful the vision will improve as the gas reabsorbs and is replaced with the eye's own clear fluid.
Some people will be required to lay face down for a period of time to help their eye heal properly. Often, eye drops will be prescribed to help prevent infection and to reduce inflammation. In general, the full recovery process for vitrectomy surgeries takes between 4 to 6 weeks.
After the surgery, your eye may be swollen, red, or tender for several weeks. You might have some pain in your eye and your vision may be blurry for a few days after the surgery. You will need 2 to 4 weeks to recover before you can do your normal activities again.
Don't do things that might cause you to move your head. This includes moving quickly, lifting anything heavy, or doing activities such as cleaning or gardening. If your doctor used an oil or gas bubble to hold the retina in place, keep your head in a certain position for a few days or longer after the surgery.
Because of this, many patients are concerned when surgery is complete and they are still experiencing blurry vision. However, this is a normal side effect of a vitrectomy. It can take several days, or even several weeks, for the eyes to fully recover and for the vision to be restored to its full potential.
It may take around two-four weeks or even more to get a clear vision after the vitrectomy procedure. The clarity of the vision after the procedure may be affected by the following factors: The eye drops used to dilate eyes during surgery may also cause blurry vision.
Avoid getting soapy water in your eye but it will not harm the healing process. Do not wash your hair for a few days. Avoid any bending or lifting for 1 week after surgery. After 1 week, you may do light housework and bend over to pick up light objects.
Some swelling is normal for about a week after which it will gradually decrease. Swelling may worsen or last longer if you are maintaining face down positioning after surgery as instructed by your doctor. The eye will be red after surgery. You should see gradual decreasing redness over the first 3-4 weeks.
If your vision has decreased for any reason, do not drive until you discuss it with your surgeon. If you have a gas bubble in your eye, you CANNOT legally drive until the gas bubble is gone.
Your surgery may not work if you do not recover in the recommended position. This is because lying in the wrong position puts pressure on other parts of your eye. That can lead to other eye problems. You cannot fly in an airplane, go to mountains/high altitudes or scuba dive until the gas bubble is gone.
Face-down positioning (FDP) is recommended after vitrectomy and gas tamponade for rhegmatogenous retinal detachments (RRDs) [1, 2] or for macular hole (MH) surgery [1–33].
You may wear your prescription glasses if these are comfortable, however please be mindful you may require new spectacle correction following the surgery.
The fact that you already notice improvement in the blind spot and blurriness is remarkable and should be cause for great optimism. The fact that you still have wavy vision is typical. The epiretinal membrane caused distortion of the retina cells, which leads to waviness of vision.
The timing depends on the type of gas used: short-acting gas (SF6) takes 2 to 3 weeks to disappear; long-acting gas (C3F8) takes about 2 months. When the gas bubble is down to half size, you will see a horizontal line across your vision, bobbing up and down with head movement.
The vitrectomy success rate depends on the reason for surgery. For example, the success rate is over 90% after surgery for retinal detachment and epiretinal membrane, and over 95% after surgery for eye floaters.
The most common cause of postoperative ocular injury is corneal abrasion, which may or may not be associated with visual loss. The most common causes of permanent POVL are central retinal artery occlusion, ischemic optic neuropathy, and cerebral vision loss.
An ophthalmologist who is a specialist in retina and vitreous surgery removes the vitreous through a small incision (vitrectomy). The vitreous is replaced with a solution to help your eye maintain its shape. Surgery may not remove all the floaters, and new floaters can develop after surgery.
The eye itself will produce a clear aqueous fluid to replace the gas. The gas will make the vision poor, however as the gas bubble becomes smaller, the patient will see it shrinking towards the bottom of the eye. Finally the gas will break up into smaller bubbles; these may appear as black dots/spots in their vision.
The following activities are safe: watching TV, computer work. You are advised to be careful and remain at home as much as possible after the operation, for up to 6 weeks. You may leave the house to visit clean and uncrowded areas. Your eye should feel more comfortable.
The operation usually takes 1- 2 hours. Once the jelly is removed, the surgeon can then carry out any other procedure necessary to treat your condition. Usually, no stitches are needed afterwards. However if they are, the stitches are dissolvable so don't need removing.