Outcomes Following Pars Plana Vitrectomy for Severe Ocular Trauma

Purpose: to investigate outcomes and presenting characteristics for subjects undergoing pars plana vitrectomy for ocular trauma. methods: retrospective study of 113 patients who underwent pars plana vitrectomy for severe ocular trauma at [name deleted to maintain the integrity of the review process] between 1999 and 2018. data were collected on age, gender, initial and final visual acuity (logmar), mode of injury, type of injury, number of surgeries performed, follow-up duration, type of tamponade, presence of phthisis, and retinal detachment. the birmingham eye trauma terminology system (betts) was employed. results: we identified assault and contusion injuries to be the most common mode and type of ocular injury in our cohort. furthermore, through follow-up we noted a varied number of operations required by patients presenting with ocular trauma and a statistically significant improvement in visual acuity from 1.73 (±0.86) logmar to 1.17 (±1.03; p <0.01) logmar. a statistically significant difference in final visual acuity was also noted between betts classified type of injury groups (p < 0.01). notably, only 7.3% and 8.2% of patients developed phthisis or a persisting retinal detachment, respectively, during follow-up. conclusion: our study demonstrates that ocular trauma requiring pars plana vitrectomy can require a varied number of operations with a guarded visual prognosis. however, a small percentage will proceed to develop phthisis following intervention.