Background and objective: Microincisional vitrectomy surgery has improved outcomes for vitrectomies; however, wound closure complications remain an important concern. The authors introduce a technique to improve transconjunctival wound closure in vitrectomy surgery.
Patients and methods: The authors evaluated the efficacy of porcine collagen plugs on stopping leakage from sclerotomy test sites in vitro and in vivo and assessed wound site healing with histology samples.
Results: The porcine collagen plugs successfully prevented leakage of trypan blue dye in enucleated rabbit eyes and of fluid flow in the rabbit model. Histology showed excellent wound reconstruction and healing, with essentially no inflammation for either angled or straight incisions with a 23-gauge system.
Conclusions: The authors describe a simple and effective novel approach to wound closure in any-gauge vitrectomy surgery using porcine collagen plugs. This method can help reduce complications related to wound leakage. The authors plan to conduct human studies to demonstrate the safety of the approach in the future. [ Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2017;48:576-579.].
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