Abstract

Aim: Silicone oil is a useful tamponading material used in complex vitroretinal surgery. However, the use of silicone oil is associated with emulsification which can lead to vision threatening complications. The authors developed an experimental model to study the effect of encircling band on silicone oil emulsification.

Methods: Two identical artificial eye chambers were constructed with circumferential indentations placed at the sphere’s equator (mimicking an encircling band indentation), and filled with varying amounts of Silicone Oil 1000 centistrokes (Adato, Bausch and Lomb, UK) and balanced salt solution. The chambers were then placed on a horizontal rotating shaker, mimicking physiological saccadic eye movements, which spun the chambers at 100 Hz for 5 days at 37°C. Emulsification was then quantified by dark field microscopy, digital photography, and manual counting by a masked observer.

Results: The mean (standard deviation (SD)) values of silicone emulsification bubbles were as follows: in the 90% silicone oil filled chamber with no encircling band, 139.1 (SD 313.4); in the 90% silicone oil filled chamber with encircling band, 10.9 (SD 22.2) (p<0.0001); in the 75% silicone oil filled chamber with no encircling band, 103.6 (SD 272.6); in the 75% silicone oil filled chamber with encircling band, 18.5 (SD 32), (p = 0.001).

Conclusions: The emulsification of silicone oil results from friction between the silicone oil and aqueous liquids. The results from this study suggest silicone oil emulsification is reduced by (1) more complete silicone oil fill and (2) indentation from an encircling band. The authors hypothesise that both these measures resulted in reduced emulsification by reducing silicone oil/aqueous movement and resulting shearing forces.