LARGE SCLEROTOMIES FOR THE MULTIPORT ILLU MINATION SYSTEM DO NOT INCREASE THE RISK OF COMPLICATIONS IN VITRECTOMIES

Purpose To free both of the surgeon's hands for bimanual work in the v itreous cavity, Koch and coworkers developed the multiport illuminatio n system, which, however, requires enlarged sclerotomies. Patients and methods To evaluate the safety of the multiport illumination system w e analyzed the first postopertive year of those 104 vitrectomies, that were performed using this system between January and December 1991. I t was used only for patients suffering from advanced vitreoretinal cha nges that most likely require bimanual surgery. Results No specific in traoperative or postoperative complications were encountered that migh t possibly have been caused by the multiport illumination system. Post operative fibrinous reactions were noted in the vitreous cavity of 7 p atients, and in the anterior chamber of 15 patients. Rebleeding was ob served in a total of 17 patients. Conclusion When these complications were compared to data from other retrospective studies of vitrectomy a nd its complications, the multiport illumination system was found to b e as safe as conventional devices.