A series of photographs are taken as the dye passes through the back of the eye, allowing us to better determine the extent of macular damage. Treatment for most patients with macular pucker is usually not necessary, since many remain asymptomatic. Surgery should be considered, however, for those people whose distortion, vision loss, and difficulty with depth perception make their daily activities such as reading and driving difficult. Vitrectomy surgery is done at the hospital under local anesthesia. This advanced microsurgical technique allow us to restore vision by peeling and removing the pucker from the macular surface, allowing the underlying macula to smooth out and function normally.
Patients go home immediately following surgery.
There is usually minimal to no pain, except for minor irritation from sutures which absorb within a week of surgery. Preoperative macular pucker. Normal macular appearance 6 weeks after surgery. Patients usually notice decreased distortion within several weeks to months following vitrectomy. The major side-effect is a cataract , with many patients requiring cataract surgery within a year or two of vitrectomy.