Novel Visible-Light Curable Hydrogel for Closure of Sclerotomy Wounds in Pars Plana Vitrectomy.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and stability of a visible-light curable hydrogel as a natural bioadhesive for closure of sclerotomy wounds.

Methods

Sclerotomy wound closures were performed ex vivo on cadaveric human sclera and adult porcine eyeballs using a visible-light curable hydrogel, and the burst pressure was recorded. The scleral adhesivity of the hydrogel to human scleras (n = 12) under rotational shake was evaluated using anterior segment optical coherence tomography (OCT) and slitlamp biomicroscopy for 30 days.

Results

The average burst pressure of sclerotomy wounds on human scleras closed with the visible-light curable hydrogel was 220.5 mm Hg (range, 75-400 [n = 10]), which was significantly higher compared with wounds closed with fibrin glue (133.7 mm Hg; range, 5-430 [n = 10]; P = .049) and no closures (20.5 mm Hg; range, 6.1-75.3 [n = 10]; P < .001). The average burst pressure of sclerotomy wounds in porcine eyeballs closed with the hydrogel was 234.9 mm Hg (range, 35-543 [n =10]), while the burst pressure in the control group was 25.4 mm Hg (range, 6.4-60.0 [n = 10]; P < .001). Regular slitlamp and anterior segment OCT examinations showed that the visible-light curable hydrogel was consistently attached to the human scleras during the 30 days of follow-up.

Conclusions

This easily applied, novel visible-light curable hydrogel has potential use for closure of sclerotomy wounds after pediatric and adult pars plana vitrectomy and may reduce postoperative vitrectomy complications, including hypotony, endophthalmitis, and astigmatism.