Aa
Vitrectomy few years ago. Still have some small air bubbles
I had a vitrectomy for a macular hole in my right eye about five or six years ago. They injected air into my eye during the surgery, but until now, there are still a few small air bubbles that haven’t gone away. Sometimes they hide somewhere in my eye and I can’t see them, and sometimes they come out. Is this bad for my eyes? Will it damage my retina or something else? Why does this happen? Does anyone else have this problem? Please let me know if you have the same experience as me, thank you.
Best Answer
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
The air injected into your eye would have been absorbed within a couple of weeks. If they injectetd silicone oil it can persist indefinitely. You may be seeing vitreous debris/floaters. Ask your retina surgeon. Air does not persist in side the eye.
4 Comments
Thank you for your reply, doctor. I’m pretty sure this is not floaters or vitreous debris. What I mean by a few small air bubbles are spherical objects with very clear and round boundaries. When I see it, it moves very slowly with gravity. Turning my eyes or head can only make it move a little under this force. If I look forward, it will slowly sink to the bottom of my eye. If I look down, it will sometimes get bigger and sometimes smaller (closer or farther from the retina) and slowly sink to the center of my eye. I can even see images forming inside this bubble.
I’m now wondering if it was because the equipment was not clean or for some other reason when I had surgery, a very small amount of silicone oil got mixed in when injecting air. If these small bubbles are actually silicone oil, even if they are very small, will they harm my eyes? Because most of the time I can’t see it at all (it usually only appears suddenly when I lower my head for a long time, and then it keeps moving in my eye and won’t disappear suddenly. Usually it’s during body movements while sleeping that it hides somewhere in my eye again and makes me unable to see it the next day), it seems like it’s stuck somewhere in my eye, so that’s why I feel like it might hurt my eye.
I’m now wondering if it was because the equipment was not clean or for some other reason when I had surgery, a very small amount of silicone oil got mixed in when injecting air. If these small bubbles are actually silicone oil, even if they are very small, will they harm my eyes? Because most of the time I can’t see it at all (it usually only appears suddenly when I lower my head for a long time, and then it keeps moving in my eye and won’t disappear suddenly. Usually it’s during body movements while sleeping that it hides somewhere in my eye again and makes me unable to see it the next day), it seems like it’s stuck somewhere in my eye, so that’s why I feel like it might hurt my eye.
It is not air, no way I can tell if it is silicone oil. You need to discuss this with your retina surgeron. There is no way I can answer your questions other than this since I cannot see within your eye.
Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions,Doctor Hagan,wish you all the best.
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