Pars plana vitrectomy with silicone oil tamponade for primary and secondary macular hole closure: Is it still a useful procedure?

Purpose: To evaluate usefulness of posterior vitrectomy with silicone oil tamponade for primary and secondary macular hole closure.

Methods: We searched for publications on the surgical treatment of full-thickness idiopathic and recurrent macular hole. We divided reports into two groups: primary macular hole repair and recurrent macular hole repair with silicone oil tamponade.

Results: In primary macular hole treatment, different authors confirmed effectiveness of silicone oil tamponade. They suggest that the most important factor for successful outcome was completeness of vitreous cavity filling with oil. Complications after this method were comparable to those after gas tamponade. However, even if good anatomical results are achieved in secondary macular hole closure, visual acuity is sometimes less rewarding.

Conclusion: There are reports on good efficacy of silicone oil tamponade for primary and recurrent macular hole closure. Anatomical closure and visual acuity rates in pars plana vitrectomy with silicone oil and with gas filling are comparable. Gas tamponade seems to be safer and needs no more surgery. Postoperative complications in both methods are similar, but all patients with silicone oil filling need to undergo a reoperation to have the silicone removed. There are also other surgical techniques for primary macular hole closure as well as for unsuccessful primary macular hole procedures. We think that primary macular hole closure should be performed with gas tamponade, supported with different adjuvants, as a method of choice. Silicone oil tamponade could be still an alternative in cases, when there are no more efficient techniques or possibilities to treat with success recurrent macular hole.