Immediate Sequential Bilateral Vitreoretinal Surgery: Descriptive Case Series and Literature Review.

BACKGROUND AND

OBJECTIVE

Bilateral vision-threatening disease necessitating urgent surgery in both eyes is challenging in vitreoretinal disorders, where surgeries are often longer and higher risk than in other ocular disorders. The authors present a case series of patients undergoing immediate sequential bilateral vitreoretinal surgery (ISBVS) on the same day.

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

Retrospective case series and literature review. Main outcome measures were surgical indications, systemic diseases, presenting and final visual acuity, and adverse events or complications during or after surgery.

RESULTS

During the time period searched, 14 patients underwent ISBVS, without significant adverse events, infections, or complications. Illustrative cases are presented.

CONCLUSION

The authors recommend considering ISBVS under certain conditions, such as in patients who are unable to undergo local anesthesia surgery, and in those who definitely require urgent or semi-urgent bilateral vitreoretinal surgery requiring a second general anesthesia in the near future if performed separately, especially in cases where the anesthesia is considered high risk. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2020;51:494-498.].