Purpose To investigate the role of vitrectomy without prone posturing in the anatomic and functional outcome of macular hole surgery (MHS). Methods Forty-one consecutive eyes of 41 patients with stage II-IV full-thickness macular holes underwent pars plana vitrectomy and 16% C3F8 tamponade. In 25 cases posturing group (P), subjects were instructed to assume prone positioning for 10 days postoperatively, whereas in 16 cases nonposturing group (NP) patients were advised to avoid lying supine but no other posturing instructions were given. Preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative clinical data were collected, with macular hole closure rate and change in LogMAR visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, metamorphopsia, and 25-Visual Function Questionnaire (VFQ-25) being the primary outcome measures. Results Over a mean follow-up of 4.271.2 months, anatomical hole closure was noted in 22/25 (88%) and 14/16 (87.5%) in groups P and NP respectively. Visual acuity improved by a mean of eight letters and there was no significant difference in the two groups (P ¼ 0.724). Similarly, postoperative prone posturing did not have an effect on the final contrast sensitivity, metamorphopsia, and VFQ-25 composite scores (P ¼ 0.238, P ¼ 0.472, and P ¼ 0.87, respectively). However, eyes in group NP developed significantly more severe cataract in the early postoperative period (P ¼ 0.02). Conclusions Prone posturing following MHS provides no functional or anatomic benefit but it is associated with slower progression of cataract. Combined phacovitrectomy without face down positioning may be considered for all phakic patients undergoing MHS.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.