Will Laser Surgery Correct a Macular Pucker?

Though laser eye surgery does offer improved vision for many, it is not a treatment used to correct a macular pucker. A macular pucker occurs when scar tissue forms on the eye's macula, a small central portion of the retina. This condition can cause mild to severe central blurriness, cloudiness in the area of central vision and distorted vision. Though a macular pucker often needs no treatment, those who require treatment can undergo a surgical procedure called a vitrectomy.

Symptoms and Treatment

• If you are bothered by symptoms of central blurriness, central vision cloudiness or blindness, visual distortion or problems seeing detail, you should consult your ophthalmologist for an exam and diagnosis. If your diagnosis is, in fact, a macular pucker, the next step is determining the severity of your symptoms and whether you want to get treatment.

  If your symptoms affect only one eye and are not severe enough to impede reading, driving or other daily activities, you may decide surgery is not what you want. However, if your symptoms are progressive, affect both eyes or cause considerable distortion or blindness, you should discuss with your doctor the risks and benefits of vitrectomy surgery.

  Treatments such as eye drops, supplements, medications and lasers are, unfortunately, not effective for treating a macular pucker. Sometimes, however, changes in the eye can remedy the condition on its own. The chances of this happening are around 10 percent.

Surgery

• Macular puckers occur when the vitreous, the gelatinous substance that fills the eye, shrinks, causing it to detach from the retina. This sometimes causes microscopic tearing or damage that forms scar tissue on the retina. When the scar tissue contracts, it can cause wrinkling or puckering. When this occurs on the macula, central vision can be impaired.

  During a vitrectomy, the surgeon removes the vitreous substance from inside the eye, then replaces it with a sterile salt solution. He then removes scar tissue from the retina to remedy any wrinkling or puckering. This procedure is generally performed as an outpatient procedure using a local anesthetic. After surgery, you will be required to use special eye drops and wear an eye patch for a few days to a few weeks. Recovery is gradual, and it may take several months to see the full results of your procedure.

  Though vision is generally improved and distortion significantly reduced, the surgery rarely results in full visual correction. On average, vision is restored to approximately 50 percent of what it was before the development of the condition, though results vary from person to person. Risks of this surgery include bleeding, infection and retinal detachment.