Patient reminder before vitreoretinal surgery

1. After surgery, your eye is covered with a bandage to protect it from accidental contamination. The bandage should be removed when you get home. It is possible to treat the eyelids (not the eye itself) with a sterile cotton swab moistened with a 0.02% aqueous solution of furacilin or a 0.25% aqueous solution of chloramphenicol (sold in a pharmacy). Starting from the first day after the operation, you should not constantly cover the operated eye with a bandage under which the eye cannot blink and move freely.
2. On the day of the operation and during the rehabilitation period, pain may occur in the operated eye or in the area around the eyes (eyebrow, temple). In case of pain syndrome, it is advisable to take “Ketanov”, “Ketorol”, “Analgin” tablets (according to the instructions for these drugs) and contact your doctor.

PERIOD OF REHABILITATION

The proposed recommendations are general, that is, designed for most patients. In cases of an individual course of the postoperative period, the doctor can offer an individual treatment scheme and a schedule of patient examinations. Please check the recommendations at each visit to the doctor!

• Regime. After the operation, compliance with the regime may have a certain therapeutic value. After the operation, the surgeon or your attending physician will give recommendations on how to behave in the first day after the operation. In the future, you should clarify the specifics of the postoperative regime with your attending physician.
• Hygiene. When washing, avoid getting soap and water into the eye. When washing your head, tilt your head back, not forward. If water gets into the operated eye, wash it with an aqueous solution of furatsilin 0.02% or an aqueous solution of chloramphenicol 0.25% (sold in a pharmacy).
• Be sure to visit the doctor on the appointed day!
• Eye drops are needed for faster healing and prevention of infectious complications. As a rule, after the operation, the surgeon prescribes the instillation of several drugs: drops with an antibiotic (for example, “Floxal”, “Oftaquix”, “Tobrex”, etc.), anti-inflammatory drops (for example, “Nevanak”, “Indocollier”, etc.) Or combined drugs (“Maxitrol”, “Tobradex”, etc.).

Visual acuity in the postoperative period.

Vision improvement after surgery occurs gradually during the first 2-3 months. In some patients, an increase in visual acuity is observed within six months. As a rule, this process is slower in patients with myopia, diabetes, general diseases and operated retinal detachment, tears of the retina, membrane on the retina and in the elderly.

During the healing and rehabilitation period, your eyes may be “different”. You may need temporary glasses or contact lenses to correct this situation. It is advisable to carry out the final spectacle correction 2-3 months after the operation, although the timing of the selection of glasses is decided individually, if, for example, only one eye was operated on.

As vision recovers, some patients may experience distortions of lines and objects, and double vision may appear. As a rule, these symptoms subside gradually over several weeks or months.

FURTHER CARE and RECOMMENDATIONS

Gradually, restrictions imposed in the postoperative period will be removed. We offer you some useful recommendations that will help preserve your eyesight:

• Do not get behind the wheel until the eye has fully recovered.
• Do not rub your eyes or put pressure on the operated eye.
• Take frequent breaks when watching TV or reading.
• Whenever possible, wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from UV radiation.
• Follow the doctor’s appointment schedule.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• GAS. If gas is injected into the eye at the final stage of the operation, the postoperative period has a number of features. In the first days after the surgery, visual acuity is extremely low, as the gas does not allow light to reach the retina. As the gas is absorbed (approximately 10-15 days), the upper part of the visual field begins to brighten, and the patient may notice a “media separation level” that changes position depending on the movement of the head. 7 to 10 days after the surgery, when less than a third of the vitreous volume remains in the eye, a single bubble in the eye may break up into several small ones. In case of individual course of the process, in some patients, intraocular pressure may rise during gas expansion (up to 3 days after surgery). As a rule, this process is accompanied by pain and redness of the eye. In such cases, you should immediately consult a doctor!
• SILICON. If liquid silicone is injected into the eye at the final stage of the operation, it is important to remember that while the silicone is in the eye, visual acuity is corrected with glasses (usually from +4.0 to +6.0 D). Removal of silicone from the vitreous cavity is usually performed no earlier than 3 months after surgery. You should be aware that the presence of silicone in the eye can accelerate the process of clouding of the eye lens (cataract development) and provoke an increase in intraocular pressure, especially in the early postoperative period. The removal of silicone from the eye is a separate operation and is paid for separately.
• For patients with diabetes mellitus. At the final stage of the operation and in the postoperative period, an anti-inflammatory drug solution (Dexamethasone, Diprospan, Kenalog) is injected near the eye. Despite the small dose (no more than 0.5 ml), in some patients with diabetes mellitus, an increase in blood glucose levels is observed within 1 to 2 days after the injection. Be careful!

RULES for instillation of drops

1. Wash your hands thoroughly.
2. Open the bottle.
3. Tilt your head or lie on your back and look up.
4. Place the bottle upside down over the eye, do not touch the eye or eyelashes.
5. Carefully grasping the lower eyelid with your fingers, slightly pull it down.
6. Turn your eyes up and slightly squeeze the bottle so that the drop falls into the space formed between the eyeball and the elongated lower eyelid.
7. Close your eyes.
8. To increase the effectiveness of the effect and minimize the systemic side effects of eye drops, press the inner corner of the eye slit with your index finger (through a sterile napkin).
9. When prescribing several drops, the interval between instillations should be about 5 minutes. Drops that lower intraocular pressure are instilled last.
10. Close the vial and store it as directed.