Commercial air travel after intraocular gas injection.

Passengers with intraocular gas are at risk of profound visual loss when exposed to reduced absolute pressure within the cabin of a typical commercial airliner. Information provided on the websites of the world's 10 largest airlines offer a considerable range of opinion as to when it might be safe to fly after gas injection. Physicians responsible for clearing pseassengers as 'fit to fly' should be aware modern retinal surgical techniques increasingly employ long-acting gases as vitreous substitutes. The kinetics of long-acting intraocular gases must be considered when deciding how long after surgery it is safe to travel. It is standard practice to advise passengers not to fly in aircraft until the gas is fully resorbed. To achieve this, it may be necessary to delay travel for approximately 2 wk after intraocular injection of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) and for 6 wk after injection of perfluoropropane (C3F8).