Refractive shift of silicone oil tamponade in pseudophakic eye

BACKGROUND: Refraction change of silicone oil (SO) tamponade in phakic and aphakic eye has been studied thoroughly; however, it is rarely studied in pseudophakic eye. In this paper we aimed to deduce a theoretical formula predicting refractive shift of silicone oil tamponade in pseudophakic eye and compared it with clinical findings. METHOD: A theoretical formula was deduced through strict geometric optical principles under the Helmholtz Schematic eye model. Pre/postoperative refractive status of patients who previously underwent phacoemulsification, intraocular lens (IOL) implant, vitrectomy, SO tamponade and required SO extraction was studied. RESULTS: Twenty-six patients (27 eyes, 13 males and 13 females) were studied. Refractive error of SO-off was -1.88 ± 2.73D, and of SO-in was 2.02 ± 3.90. Refractive shift of SO tamponade was -3.90 ± 1.74D. Refractive shift was significantly associated with refractive power of IOL (r = -0.7903, p < 0.0001, Pearson correlation test) and anterior chamber distance (ACD, r = 0.3840, p = 0.0480, Pearson correlation test). Theoretical refractive shift was -4.10 ± 1.51D, and there was no significant difference between the theoretical and the clinical refractive shift (p = 0.3329, Paired T test). CONCLUSIONS: Refractive shift of SO tamponade in pseudophakic eye correlates with refractive power of implanted IOL and ACD, and strong correlation between theoretical formula and clinical findings was detected. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12886-016-0243-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.