Diplopia following macular peel

[Garbe]

Two weeks ago I had a vitrectomy and macular peel in my left eye. Since then I have had double vision. I have normal vision looking straight ahead and to my left, but when my eyes track to the right, the vision splits, getting worse the farther I turn my eyes. Surgeon says that the muscle in my left eye, closest to my nose (forgive me, I don't have a medical vocabulary!) "didn't wake up" after surgery. Meanwhile I have patched my left eye and am sad and confused, but at least I am not unbalanced and nauseated. Also, before and after surgery, the images seen by my left eye are very large compared to my right eye.  What is the prognosis for this sort of problem?

[Garbe]

Thank you so much. I will do some reading. Mainly, no one would say much except that this is unusual and no one knows why it happens. Admittedly, I am kind of scared at what changes this makes in my life. I am trying to get a handle on it. This is a big help.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Sure I've written 4-5 papers about double vision following injection eye surgery.

Just google "double vision after eye surgery"

2 weeks isn't very long, many of the double vision cases I've studied cleared over 2-6 months. Not all did and some required eye muscle surgery.

Here are some of the papers I wrote:

81. “Diplopia Cases After Peri-bulbar Anesthesia without Hyaluronidase”, Hagan III JC, Whittaker TJ, Byars SR Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery, 25:1560-61, 1999

82. “Diplopia and Ptosis Following Injection of local Anesthesia Without Hyaluronidase”, Jehan FS, Hagan III JC, Whittaker T, Subramanian M. Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery, 27:1876-1879, 2001


84. “Use of a Compounding Pharmacy Hyaluronidase for Ophthalmic Injection Anesthesia”, Hagan III JC, Hill WE. Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery, 27:1712-1714, 2001

[Garbe]

I appreciate your advice. I still wonder, if this is something that is "well-known", what my prognosis is?  Can you direct me to a medical paper, study, or other information about this particular problem?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Ask your retina surgeon to refer you to a eye muscle specialist (strabismus specialist)  Not good idea to patch your eye all the time as this prevents the eyes from trying to line themselves up again.

Double vision is a known complication of your type of surgery and/or injection eye anesthesia.

Image size difference is extremely common. Read other posts about membrane peel surgery. Use search feature and archives

JCH MD