During the past four decades, great technological advances have changed the way we practice ophthalmology, especially in the vitreoretinal subspecialty. After the invention of vitrectomy, a microsurgical technique that removes the vitreous or gel that fills the eye, an array of surgical instruments, devices and techniques emerged. These new surgical techniques are changing the lives of people who were destined to become blind by making them able to see.

Before 1960, it was thought that the vitreous should not be violated; now vitrectomy is considered the first-line surgery for the treatment of vitreoretinal pathologies. Imagine bringing this to an office setting.

Insight Instruments designed a portable, 23-gauge Vitrectomy-Injection System called the Intrector. In the beginning, this instrument was used for the treatment and diagnosis of endophthalmitis, an infection within the eye. It allowed the surgeon to perform office-based biopsies of the vitreous with simultaneous injections of intravitreal antibiotics and antifungals without the necessity to bring the patient to the operating room. In January 2006, Professor Frank Koch, M.D., started a research project in Germany using the Intrector for the treatment of patients with diabetic macular edema, macular degeneration with choroidal neovascular membranes and hypertensives with intraocular vein occlusions and macular edema. The results are dramatic and innovative, to say the least. There is no need for multiple injection treatments, and the core vitrectomy in addition to combination treatment made possible by the Intrector may enhance the treatment of all these conditions by increasing the oxygen supply to the retina.

Up to this date, the only treatment available for macular degeneration was intraocular injection therapy, which carries a higher risk of infection and may prove financially prohibitive for some patients. Diabetics and hypertensives are a large group of patients who, despite laser treatment and injections, show no macular improvement, thus making visual recovery impossible. In an attempt to provide a solution to this problem, Dr. Charles Campbell decided to visit Koch in Germany to learn this innovative technique known as the Intrecotomy. His trip was successful. Since October 2009, patients in South Texas have been receiving treatments by way of office-based Intrectomies and showing great results. The need to take the patient to the operating room has been eliminated, thus decreasing the costs for patients, as well as decreasing the risk factors of general anesthesia. Now patients who were not able to get treated because of financial boundaries and patients with chronic diseases who were too sick to endure general or monitored anesthesia have the option of treatment and a second chance to see.

Ophthalmological advances, such as the Intrector, give hope to patients with ocular diseases. Only a decade ago, it was thought that patients with macular degeneration were destined to become blind. Now with the advent of office- based injection therapy, we can halt the process and rehabilitate vision. Ocular injections generally carry a higher risk for eye infection. The Intrector allows us to perform a core vitrectomy with simultaneous intraocular injection of combination pharmacologic agents. This is a more sustainable treatment option. Fewer intraocular injections minimize the risk of serious eye infections and show great results.

For more information contact, South Texas Retina Consultants, L.L.P. Or visit Web site www.strc.cc.