Abstract
Purpose: To describe a strategy for reducing the risk of posterior dislocation of a fluocinolone implant during exchange or removal.
Design: Case report and in vitro model.
Methods: Description of a surgical case and an in vitro experiment evaluating the role of infusion pressure in maintaining implant stability in surgery.
Results: Use of an elevated infusion pressure allowed safe removal of a fluocinolone implant that spontaneously dissociated into two pieces during removal. An in vitro model using the implant’s drug reservoir in a cadaver eye demonstrated that the implant remained in a stable location at the scleral incision if the infusion pressure was high, whereas with a lower infusion pressure the implant spontaneously fell onto the posterior pole of the eye.
Conclusions: During exchange or removal of a fluocinolone implant, an elevated infusion pressure may reduce the risk of posterior dislocation of the device.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported by Research to Prevent Blindness and That Man May See, Inc.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.