Our retina specialists are board certified in ophthalmology, have completed a retina disease fellowship and have performed thousands of retina procedures. Our doctors and their staff share a common mission to provide the most up-to-date medical care in an environment that is compassionate and patient-centered.
Vitrectomy
Background of Vitrectomy Surgery
Retina surgeons are the only eye specialists who can perform surgery to repair the retina in the back of the eye. Ever since Robert Machemer performed the first pars-plana vitrectomy in 1970, retina surgeons have pushed the limits of what can be achieved with small gauge surgery. We are able to insert and utilize retina instruments that are 1/2 of a millimeter in diameter. These can reach every part inside the eye and allow us to remove membranes from the surface of the retina that are 5 microns thick (that is 1/200th of a millimeter!). A host of different potentially blinding conditions are now fixable with a vitrectomy.
What to Expect
Vitrectomy surgery is an outpatient surgery performed at the hospital or surgery center. You do not have to be admitted to the hospital and are able to leave 30-45 minutes after the procedure is completed. It can be performed under either general anesthesia or conscious sedation and is not at all painful during the procedure. It can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours to complete and is always performed in the presence of the anesthesia team with careful monitoring of your breathing and heart.
Our surgeons at the Taylor Retina Center have performed thousands of retina surgeries at both Rex Hospital and the Blue Ridge Surgery Center in Raleigh, NC. In New Bern, we perform surgery at the Carolina East surgery center. We are fortunate to work with an exemplary team of technicians, nurses, and Anesthetists in the OR. We hope that you have a good surgical experience with us.
After Surgery
When you leave the hospital or surgery center, your eye is patched completely closed. This patch remains in place overnight and we will remove it the following day at your post-operative check in our office. We always ask that you do not lift anything heavy or strain after surgery for 2 weeks. Some types of surgery require additional positioning requirements such as looking straight down to the ground or sleeping on your side at night. We will give you instructions about this both before and after surgery if it is required. Depending on the type of surgery, recovery may be painless or can result in moderate pain. Tylenol is the pain medication of choice after surgery although we will occasionally prescribe stronger pain medications for certain procedures. Each and every surgery is a little different and we will take the time to go over all of the instructions and answer any questions at your post-operative visit.
For specific details of surgery, please consult with one our physicians.
This procedure removes the vitreous humor (the thick, jelly-like fluid in the eye's rear chamber). Vitrectomy is used to treat a variety of eye problems, most commonly when the vitreous humor has grown cloudy or has filled with blood from a hemorrhage. Vitrectomy is performed in an operating room under local or general anesthesia. It usually takes one to two hours to complete.
