What is vitrectomy

Vitrectomy was a procedure developed in the early 1970s, and its emergence was considered a major revolution in the history of ophthalmic treatment, allowing for the treatment of many eye diseases that were previously considered incurable. With the continuous improvement of surgical instruments and the accumulation of experience, the indications for surgery have been expanded and vitreous surgery has become the second major ophthalmic surgery after cataract removal IOL implantation in eye centers in developed countries. Vitrectomy is a method of treating vitreous and retinal diseases under the operating microscope with the help of a vitreous cutter, so strictly speaking, vitrectomy should be called vitreoretinal microsurgery. Some patients who have undergone vitrectomy once and need to prepare for vitrectomy again due to their condition often have the question, “My vitreous has already been cut, how come there is still vitreous to be cut?” In fact, vitrectomy is not only the removal of the vitreous, but also the treatment of retinal lesions with the aid of a vitreous cutter, so it is a vitreoretinal microsurgery, but we usually refer to it as vitrectomy (also referred to as biosurgery). Vitrectomy is usually performed with a three-channel closed vitrectomy, in which three small openings are made in the wall of the eye, and the irrigation head (to continuously inject fluid into the vitreous cavity to maintain intraocular pressure and avoid collapse of the eye), light-guiding fibers (for intraocular illumination, so that the intraocular operation is performed in a clear visual field) and intraocular surgical instruments (biosurgical head, intraocular scissors, intraocular forceps, membrane hooks, etc.) are inserted to remove the cloudy vitreous. (to remove the cloudy vitreous and the proliferating membrane in the front and back of the retina).