Glaucoma after vitreo-retinal surgery with silicone oil injection: Epidemiologic aspects

Purpose: To evaluate the prevalence of glaucoma after pars plana vitrectomy with silicone oil injection and to determine the different clinical forms. Methods: Authors have carried out a retrospective longitudinal study on patients who underwent pars plana vitrectomy with silicone oil injection from 1981 to 1995. The examined population consists of 301 patients (301 eyes), with an age ranging from 8 to 85 years, affected by retinal detachment and proliferative vitreoretinopathy. Results: The prevalence of the secondary glaucoma has been 18.5%. In all cases glaucoma was caused by trabecular meshwork obstruction due to silicone oil emulsification. The glaucoma has been more frequent after surgery for recurrent rhegmatogenous retinal detachment with fibrous PVR (52.86%) and for particular forms of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (giant tears, multiple breaks, pseudophakia) with incipient PVR (30%). Conclusion: Glaucoma after intravitreal silicone oil injection for complicated retinal detachments is a relatively frequent complication mostly when surgery needs endophotocoagulation, endodiatermy and lensectomy.