Wondering if anyone has had an FOV, Floaters Only Vitrectomy

Ophthalmologists can’t see what we see. They like hard evidence of an issue, it’s hard for them to fully rely on subjective data, the patient report. My thought anyway. And even harder to justify surgery for something they can’t document by test or scan or observation. But my vitreoretinal specialist understood. Of course there are risks to surgery, for example, retinal detachment. Hence the need to trust your surgeon.

I had a retinal tear In my left eye (position of the tear was at “10 o’clock“) in August 2018 and had flood of new floaters and it was very scary. At the time, I had retinal surgeon do successful cryosurgery with pneumatic bubble BUT severe floaters remained prevalent for over 3 months following surgery. Suddenly, at about 3 months post surgery, the floaters became much more tolerable and I could function fairly normally (but I could “find them” if I really looked for them). Unfortunately, that retinal cryosurgery quickened the development of a cataract in that left eye and I had to have a traditional catarectomy done on the eye in December 2019. Then, I had to have cryosurgery about 2 weeks later because of ANOTHER retinal tear in same place.

Since the cataract surgery and retinal surgery of Dec 2019, the floaters are MUCH WORSE. There is a “flag” that contains about 150 floater dots that continually passes through my field of vision. There are a number of other floaters like squiggly lines and small circles/dots and It’s especially hard to be confident driving and difficult seeing in general. Surgeons are willing, but not too enthused, to do the vitrectomy. I wonder if having the 2 retinal tears makes me a much higher risk?? What I read seems to tell me it’s only a little less successful for anyone who has had previous retinal tears (like 93 percent successful vs 95 percent). In summary, this “debris” in my vision is a mess and miserable but I sure don’t want the procedure to make it worse! Any insight is very much appreciated.

Thank you for writing about this as I'm experiencing terrible floaters and blurring in one eye so only one eye is functioning. I've been to eye doctors 3times and Monday a different eye doctor but keep getting put off...told nothing to do. Eye surgery is discouraged. What do you suggest I should inquire or questions to ask? Thanks for your input.

The first and most important thing is to get to a retinal specialist/surgeon. I was referred to one but had to travel to a large city. Even they can’t see what you’re seeing but should understand and certainly have the ability to safely perform the vitrectomy. As with any surgery, understand the risks (in this case a retinal detachment) but make sure the physician also understands your desperation. I had little luck getting my optometrist or ophthalmologist to understand my problem because I didn’t understand myself what was wrong and probably didn’t do a good job of explaining what I was experiencing. I’m not sure sure it’s helpful to just complain of floaters because what I saw was unlike any floaters I had had before. Like you, my vision was continually being obscured by moving clouds of debris from the deteriorating vitreous. It started in one eye but eventually involved both eyes. I think there was a time surgery was discouraged because the need depended on a patient’s subjective report of the problem as well as the accompanying potential risk of a detachment, perhaps especially more so in the past. I almost gave up finding help but am so glad I didn’t.

@susan2018 Thanks for your response as it is very helpful. I need to insist on getting referral to retinal specialist.

Hi Susan, Thanks for relating your experiences as I’ve gone through something similar. I’m almost 62 and nearsighted all my life. My floaters in both eyes are maddening and obstructive. Night driving has gotten to be “white knuckled”. I love watching hockey but have trouble finding the puck, or finding the RIGHT puck (eyes watch a floater rather than puck).

Anyway, have you had the vitrectomy or are you still considering it? I have been checking out Dr Jerry Sebag at online Presentations he did at Ophthalmology conferences on Youtube at SOE 2017 and 2019 and otherwise. He seems to be the quintessential expert on the vitreous and floaters. He has defined Vision Degrading Myodesopsia as an actual, clinically measurable DISEASE. He does Contrast Sensitivity and quantitative ultrasound testing (and other testing/questionnaires) to determine how significantly the floaters are affecting a person’s vision and, thereby, quality of life.

Dr Sebag’s practice is in California and I am in Pennsylvania. However, he was kind enough to recommend a retinal surgeon in my area. At this point, I’m STILL considering the surgery and I’m glad that I am, somewhat, more knowledgeable for my discussion with the surgeon.

Yes. If you go back in this thread I relate my experiences with having a successful surgery in metro Minneapolis. A VitreoRetinal specialist can help.

Thank you! Sorry, for my poor job following the thread.

Dear Susan, It being well over a year since your vitrectomys, I wonder how you are doing? I hope well. Are all the floaters gone? How is your vision? How is the health of your eyes otherwise?

I have appointments set up with my optometrist and my retina surgeon for the next couple of months (Covid has set the doctors’ appointments back). Do you, or does anyone, know whether the fact that I’ve had 2 retinal repairs and cataract removed on my eye makes me a better or worse risk for a successful vitrectomy? Thanks so much for starting this discussion topic!

@bobbyo I just last week had my annual visit to my local ophthalmologist. She reported that my eyes look healthy, no macular degeneration, no glaucoma, retina is fine. She was pleased and so am I. I don’t know whether your retinal repairs are a factor in the possibility of your having the Floaters Only Vitrectomy but I can tell you that I had cataract surgery on both eyes prior to the Vitrectomy. In addition on one of my eyes I had had several additional surgeries including having the corrective lens that was placed during cataract surgery needing to be replaced (because it had moved out of position) and PRK to tweak my correction. As for the floaters, in one eye they are completely gone. In the other, after the Vitrectomy I did notice a small one linger but it eventually settled down. My vision is good, I pass the drivers test without eyeglasses although I choose to wear them when I drive. Otherwise I don’t wear glasses. Good Luck to you. Don’t hesitate to ask if there is anything I can help with.