Background: Is there any association between, on the one hand, retention or removal of silicone oil or any specific ocular finding in patients with functionally lost eyes after vitrectomy and silicone oil tamponade for tractional retinal detachment and, on the other, a greater chance of preservation of the eye? This information is important in deciding whether to remove silicone oil, as well as in counseling patients about their individual chances of preserving their eye.
Methods: Seventy-three consecutive patients with a functionally lost eye with a minimum follow-up of 3 years were retrospectively studied. The relation between the variables at study entry or the removal of silicone oil during the follow-up period and a subsequent intervention (enucleation, evisceration or conjunctival cover with a scleral shell) were tested for statistical significance with Cox proportional hazards analysis.
Results: The absence or removal of silicone oil was not associated with a greater chance of finally preserving the eye. Nor could we identify other factors which predicted better chances of preservation.
Conclusion: The notion that functionally lost eyes after treatment with vitrectomy and silicone oil tamponade for complicated tractional retinal detachment have better chances of preservation of the eye without silicone oil is not supported by our study.