Clinical outcome of 23g trans-conjunctival pars plana vitrectomy: A prospective comparison of Phaco-Vitrectomy with only vitrectomy in phakic eyes

Objective: to evaluate the effectiveness and safety profile of combined phacoemulsification with 23g pars plana vitrectomy when compared to pars plana vitrectomy alone in phakic patients. methods: this study was performed at al-ehsan eye hospital (tertiary care eye hospital in lahore,pakistan) from january 2016 to august 2016. a total of 40 eyes in two equal groups of 20 eyes each,were enrolled in this prospective study. group-a underwent combined phaco-vitrectomy,whereas group-b underwent vitrectomy only for various vitreoretinal pathologies. we evaluated the safety of combined surgery,intraoperative and postoperative complications and short term surgical outcome. results: the most common reason for vitreoretinal intervention was rhegmatogenous retinal detachment followed by vitreous haemorrhage in combined study population. there was statistically significant difference in best corrected visual acuity pre-operatively and post operatively within the groups and between the groups. the most significant immediate post operative observation in group-a was enhanced anterior chamber inflammation as compared to group-b,whereas most signification observation in group-b was development of visually significant cataract (35%) at 6 months follow-up. there was no other significant sequel or complication difference between both groups. conclusions: combined phaco-vitrectomy is a safe and effective procedure with minimum complication profile and it avoids the need of subsequent cataract surgery. © 2017,professional medical publications. all rights reserved.