Aftermath of Retinal Detachment Surger

[AccountingFool]

Hi! About 8 weeks ago I had surgery to reattach the retina in my left eye.  At the time I was told that I have lattice degeneration in both eyes and that this condition had caused my retina to detach on the left side of my right eye.  Before the surgery I had a contact prescription of -5.25 in both eyes. So my surgeon put in the scleral buckle and gas bubble in the right eye; and then did the cryopexy in my left eye.  Now that I'm starting to recover I have a few questions:

1. Is it possible in time to have some sort of corrective treatment to reduce my dependence on contacts or glasses?  Or does my situation disqualify me.

2. What if anything could I possibly do to improve my eyesight further?

3. Am I still at risk for retina detachment in my good eye even though I had the cryopexy done?

Oh!  In case my age is important I am 24 years old.  

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

Get a second opinion from a retina Eye MD ophthalmologist..

It could be that if the oil was removed the retina would completely detach and go completely blind.   As I said get a second opinion.

JC MD

[kathryn241]

It has been almost 4 years since my  eye was oil filled and made aphakic during retinal detachment repair surgery.

I have since had the procedure to remove calcium deposits from my cornea, but they are coming back.  

I had a procedure to fix the muscles in that eye, so that my eyes are lined up as they used to be, before the scleral buckle and oil.

My eye pressure teeters back and forth between 8 and 10.  I want the oil OUT!  It is destroying my cornea, thus causing pain.

I have 20/100 vision in that eye.

My other eye is 20/20.

My doc has been telling me for years that he will take the oil out once my pressure stabilizes.  And now he seems to be hesitant to take it out.

Could you think of any reason to leave silicone oil in your eye forever?

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

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[AnnaE]

Have your doctor explain PVD. When you get older, you will have to watch your eyes more carefully. I have lattice, myopia, and an inherited trait. PVD is what caused my retina to detach at 61. My eye doctors should have referred me to a retinologist years before, even before the flashing lights that I told them about, when they still did not refer me.

None of my doctors ever told me about it. They never told my daughter, either. But I told her. They never told my daughter how to self-check her eyes periodically for symptoms. But I have told her, because my daughter's retinas detached at 18. She is still fine at 38.Even the retinologist who checked my daughter did not tell her to see a retinologist every year, but I have told her.

I would like for both of you to be fine, so ask your retinologist to tell you about PVD, self-checks, and getting checked one a year by a retinologist. You never want another detachemnt. There could be complications, as with me, if it is not detaected very early or, better yet, before it is a detachment.

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

You will have to wait 6-12 months or more to let your eye heal and things stabilize. A scleral buckle always makes an eye more nearsighted since it squeezes it and makes the eye longer. you will need stronger glasses on the eye with the buckle.

You will be at risk for a RD in either eye the rest of your life. the risk will be lower with the holes closed with cryopexy and with the buckle on the RD eye.

After things settle down much further down the road you might be a candidate for contact lens even lasik.   Its also possible your insurance would cover this if your eyes have trouble working together.

JCH III MD