Abstract

A long section of optic nerve can be obtained during enucleation, when the eyeball is caught in a net made specifically for this purpose. The net is knitted from surgical thread and is in the shape of a barrel with two openings: one wide, one narrow. Separate thread is wrapped around the edge of the wide opening. When the eyeball is freed from the extrinsic muscles and Tenon's capsule, it is drawn into the net, and the wide opening is closed round the optic nerve. At the narrow opening there are three slip-knots by which the net is pulled forward and out of the orbit. Then the optic nerve is exposed and the surgeon is able to cut it close to the apex of the orbit. The length of severed optic nerve amounts as a rule to about 15 mm or more, depending on the age of patient.