Passive removal of silicone oil with temporal head position through two 23-gauge cannulas

Purpose. to report a new approach for removal of silicone oil. methods. all surgeries were performed using 23-gauge vitrectomy system with two transconjunctival sutureless cannulas. at the beginning,most of the silicone oil was removed by traditional microinvasive vitrectomy system through inferior-temporal cannula. then,the blood transfusion tube is removed from the inferior-temporal cannula,and the fluid-air exchange is performed. a passive fluid-air exchange was performed to aspirate the residual silicone oil after gradually turning the patient's head temporally by approximately 90° gradually. results. after the surgery,all patients had a clear anterior chamber and vitreous cavity on slit lamp and b scan examination,respectively. the mean time taken for silicone oil removal and total surgery was 8.0 ± 1.4 minutes and 12.4 ± 2.5 minutes,respectively. the mean intraocular pressure 1 day,3 days,1 week,1 month,and 3 months after surgery was 9.0 ± 5.8 mmhg,11.3 ± 7.6 mmhg,16.1 ± 6.9 mmhg,17.7 ± 4.8 mmhg,and 17.1 ± 3.5 mmhg,respectively. conclusion. this new approach may provide a safe and fast method to remove the silicone oil. © 2016 zhong lin et al.