Posterior perforating eye injury. Experimental animal model.

A technique has been developed which produces an experimental posterior perforating eye injury, that reproducibly results in traction retinal detachment. The standard injury is an incision through the pars plana with vitreous prolapse and incarceration; the wound is then carefully closed with microsurgical techniques. It appears that blood in the vitreous is an essential factor in the development of vitreous traction and of traction retinal detachment. The model is considered useful for further histological, electron microscopic, electrophysiological, and ultrasonic studies of posterior perforating eye injuries. In a controlled experiment, it will be possible to assess whether pars plana vitrectomy can interrupt the sequence of events leading to traction retinal detachment after posterior perforating injury.