SILICONE OIL BARRIER SUTURES IN APHAKIC EYES WITH IRIS DEFECTS

Purpose To evaluate the efficacy and safety of silicone oil barrier sutures in aphakic eyes with iris defects. Methods Sixteen aphakic and iris-defective eyes of 16 patients who underwent a pars plana vitrectomy procedure with silicone oil tamponade because of retinal detachment were included in this retrospective study. Silicone oil barrier sutures were placed as a grid pattern within the plane of the previous iris after vitrectomy and before silicone oil injection. Results The mean follow-up time after silicone oil barrier suture operations was 12.0 ± 6.8 months. Silicone oil was present in the anterior chamber in five eyes (31%) at the last visit. These eyes also had hypotony, band keratopathy, and anterior proliferative vitreoretinopathy. Conclusion In this study, silicone oil barrier sutures were proven to be safe and effective in preventing silicone oil-corneal endothelium touch in aphakic eyes with iris defects, unless hypotony was present because of anterior proliferative vitreoretinopathy.