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, intra-operative 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.