Management of subretinal foreign bodies with a cannulated extrusion needle

We treated two patients who had nonmagnetic subretinal foreign bodies (metallic pellet and lens nucleus fragment) in the presence of a retinal detachment and a distant retinal break. After the pars plana vitrectomy, the soft, flexible tip of the cannulated extrusion needle was used to push the foreign object gently away from the posterior pole toward the retinal break where it was grasped and removed from the eye. This technique for subretinal foreign body removal is preferable to creating a large posterior retinotomy overlying the foreign body because of the potential risks of further macular trauma, hemorrhage, or proliferation of periretinal membranes from the retinotomy site.