Complications of vitreoretinal surgery

Purpose of review The present article reviews the most common and most serious vision-threatening and life-threatening complications of vitreoretinal surgery. Recent findings Serious complications after vitreroretinal surgery are rare. Endophthalmitis for example has recently been estimated to occur in 0.08% of small gague vitrectomy. Other complications such as cataract are almost unavoidable, becoming visually significant in up to 80% of patients. The introduction of smaller gauge vitrectomy systems has reduced surgical times, conjunctival scarring and inflammation, and the rate of some complications such as retinal tears. Ocular venous air embolism is an exceedingly rare complication that is potentially life threating and therefore important for all vitreoretinal surgeons to be aware of. Though vitreoretinal surgery is well tolerated and effective, it is inevitable that all surgeons will experience complications and are therefore best served by understanding the potential complications, strategies to reduce the likelihood of them occurring, and ways to address them when they do happen.