Alternative technique for implantation of a scleral-fixated intraocular lens
Received 31 March 2008; received in revised form 19 August 2008; accepted 20 August 2009.
We describe an alternative method of implanting a scleral-fixated intraocular lens (IOL) that facilitates passage of the suture and improves control of suture placement. An ab externo approach introduces a loop of polypropylene (Prolene) through the sclera in a single 27-gauge puncture. The loop is used to secure the IOL haptic in a cow-hitch fashion, which minimizes the risk for the knot to unravel and the IOL to dislocate. After the IOL is placed in the eye, it is secured with the externalized curved suture needle. Knots are covered with a scleral flap. This technique improves efficiency and control in placing an IOL near the normal anatomical location of the crystalline lens when the absence of capsule support precludes nontethered placement of an IOL in the sulcus or capsular bag.
From the Department of Ophthalmology (Peden, Adams, Kaushal), University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida; and the Sight Eye Clinic (Huffman), Holland, Michigan, USA
Corresponding author: Shalesh Kaushal, MD, PhD, PO Box 100284, HSC, Gainesville, Florida 32610, USA.
No author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.
Presented as a poster at the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, April 2008.
Supported in part by an unrestricted departmental grant from Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc., New York, New York, USA.
ABSTRACT