Changes in vitreous temperature during intravitreal surgery

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Surgical Science
• Medical Physics

Background:

• Maintaining stable intraocular temperature is crucial during ophthalmic surgery.
• Vitrectomy and combined procedures can potentially alter the intraocular thermal environment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of various intraoperative surgical procedures on midvitreous temperature during vitrectomy.
• To analyze temperature variations associated with specific surgical steps and underlying ocular conditions.

Main Methods:

• Continuous monitoring of midvitreous temperature using an intravitreal thermocouple in 87 eyes undergoing vitrectomy.
• Analysis of temperature changes during core vitrectomy, membrane peeling, peripheral vitrectomy, laser photocoagulation (PC), and combined phacoemulsification and aspiration (PEA) with vitrectomy.
• Correlation analysis between PC parameters and temperature changes in diabetic retinopathy cases.

Main Results:

• Average midvitreous temperature decreased after core (30.7°C) and peripheral vitrectomy (29.2°C), but increased after membrane peeling (32.9°C) and laser photocoagulation (31.5°C).
• Significant temperature fluctuations were observed between consecutive surgical steps (P < 0.01).
• A strong correlation was found between the duration of laser photocoagulation and the resulting vitreous temperature change (r = 0.800, P = 0.0002).

Conclusions:

• Vitreous temperature is dynamic and significantly affected by different surgical procedures during vitrectomy.
• Understanding these thermal variations is important for optimizing surgical techniques and patient outcomes.