Thrombin infusion to control bleeding during vitrectomy for stage V retinopathy of prematurity
P. A. Blacharski and S. T. Charles
We prospectively studied 36 consecutive premature infants with the
diagnosis of retinopathy of prematurity stage V with total traction retinal
detachment who underwent lensectomy/vitrectomy and epiretinal membrane
delamination. The first 26 patients underwent vitrectomy using thrombin
mixed with Balanced Salt Solution Plus at a concentration of 100 U/mL and
the remaining ten patients had pure Balanced Salt Solution Plus used.
Intraoperative and postoperative bleeding were monitored. The overall
intraoperative bleeding rate was 92% (33/36). Intraoperative bleeding (19%
vs 80%) and bleeding at the time of wound closure (4% vs 30%) were both
significantly reduced in the thrombin vs no thrombin group.
