Intraocular Surgery in Kyphosis: An Easier Approach

We describe a 49-year-old man with advanced kyphosis and dense cataract, who could only recline to about 40° from the vertical axis despite a maximal reverse Trendelenburg position and pillows under the head, neck, shoulders and knees. With a single corneal retraction suture at 6 o'clock, the eye could be rotated horizontally, which enabled the surgeon to perform a complex cataract surgery despite prior glaucoma shunt, posterior synechiae, a small pupil and the need to stain the capsule. As the eye can be brought into any desired position with a retraction suture, patients with kyphosis or other conditions that prevent them from assuming a supine position can still have safe intraocular procedures. This maneuver reduces the need to tilt patients to an uncomfortable position that may cause pain, increased breathing difficulty and elevated posterior vitreous pressure.