Efficacy of peribulbar bupivacaine at the end of surgery in the management of postoperative pain after scleral buckling.

PURPOSE: To compare the efficacy of peribulbar bupivacaine with routine analgesics for pain management in patients undergoing scleral buckling. METHODS: In total, 72 patients undergoing scleral buckling or combined with vitrectomy were enrolled in this study. Patients were randomized into two groups, each containing 36 patients. Patients of group A received 5 mL of bupivacaine (0.5%) injection at the end of surgery, whereas group B patients received routine analgesics. The postoperative pain score was assessed in the first 24 hours of the postoperative period with the visual pain analog score. RESULTS: Maximum postoperative pain scores were lower in patients receiving bupivacaine block (median: 3; range: 3-7) than in the control group (median: 5; range: 3-9). Pain scores in group A were lower than in the control group both at 3 and 6 hours after surgery, which was statistically significant ( P < 0.001). Four patients in group A and 17 patients in group B needed additional analgesia in the first 24 hours of the postoperative period. In addition, two patients in group A and seven patients in group B experienced episodes of nausea and vomiting in the first 24 hours of surgery. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that the postoperative experience of patients undergoing scleral buckling surgery can be made more comfortable with the use of bupivacaine block at the end of surgery.

Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Using Smartphone-Based Fundus Imaging in India.

PURPOSE: Early detection and treatment can prevent irreversible blindness from diabetic retinopathy (DR), which is the leading cause of visual impairment among working-aged adults worldwide. Some 80% of affected persons live in low- and middle-income countries, yet lack of resources has largely prevented DR screening implementation in these world regions. Smartphone-based fundus imaging (SBFI) allows for low-cost mobile fundus examination using an adapter on a smartphone; however, key aspects such as image quality, diagnostic accuracy, and comparability of different approaches have not been systematically assessed to date. DESIGN: Evaluation of diagnostic technology. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 381 eyes of 193 patients with diabetes were recruited at outreach eye clinics in South India. METHODS: We compared 4 technically different approaches of SBFI (3 approaches based on direct and 1 approach based on indirect ophthalmoscopy) in terms of image quality and diagnostic accuracy for DR screening. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Image quality (sharpness/focus, reflex artifacts, contrast, and illumination), field-of-view, examination time, and diagnostic accuracy for DR screening were analyzed against conventional fundus photography and clinical examination. RESULTS: Smartphone-based fundus imaging based on indirect ophthalmoscopy yielded the best image quality (P < 0.01), the largest field-of-view, and the longest examination time (111 vs. 68-86 seconds, P < 0.0001). Agreement with the reference standard (Cohen's kappa 0.868) and sensitivity/specificity to detect DR were highest for the indirect SBFI approach (0.79/0.99 for any DR and 1.0/1.0 for severe DR, 0.79/1.0 for diabetic maculopathy). CONCLUSIONS: Smartphone-based fundus imaging can meet DR screening requirements in an outreach setting; however, not all devices are suitable in terms of image quality and diagnostic accuracy. Smartphone-based fundus imaging might aid in alleviating the burden of DR screening in low- and middle-income countries, and these results will allow for a better selection of SBFI devices in field trials for DR screening.

Recurrent unintentional filtering blebs after vitrectomy: A case report.

A lady who underwent lensectomy for microspherophakia and pars plana vitrectomy for retinal detachment in her left eye developed recurrent filtering blebs at the site of sclerotomies. Filtering blebs were managed by suturing the sclerotomies. Targeted gene sequencing identified a variant of ASPH gene (p.Arg688Gln) which is not known to be associated with Traboulsi syndrome. But considering the paucity of cases with genetic analysis, it would be possible that p.Arg688Gln is a pathogenic variant. This is the first case report of Traboulsi syndrome due to an ASPH variant not reported earlier that can lead to recurrent filtering blebs.

Vitrectomy as a treatment modality in vitreous seeding secondary to ciliary body melanocytoma.

Melanocytoma is a locally invasive intraocular tumor usually located in the optic nerve head, iris, ciliary body and choroid. Melanocytoma can undergo necrosis and lead to pigment dispersion. We report a case of melanocytoma of the ciliary body with vitreous seeds filling the vitreous cavity. A sub conjunctival pigmented lesion was seen due to extra scleral extension of the tumor. The diagnosis of melanocytoma was confirmed by biopsy of the sub conjunctival lesion. Pars plana vitrectomy was performed to clear the vitreous cavity with good visual recovery.

Optical coherence tomography angiography in assessment of response to therapy in retinal capillary hemangioblastoma and diffuse choroidal hemangioma.

In this series, we discuss the role of optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in assessing response to treatment in intraocular vascular tumors. This is a series of two cases: Multiple retinal capillary hemangioblastoma (RCH) treated with laser photocoagulation and diffuse choroidal hemangioma (DCH) with radiotherapy. In large RCH and DCH, optical coherence tomography (OCT) showed significant reduction of subretinal and intraretinal fluid. But post-treatment mean tumor vascular density (MTVD) was slightly reduced. In one small RCH, vascular loop was seen suggesting minimal residual disease. So, OCTA helps in identifying treatment inadequacy and understanding alternate mechanism involved in treatment response in vascular tumors.