Intraoperative breakage of a 25-gauge vitreou cutter

Purpoe To report breakage of a 25-gauge vitreou cutter during vitreou urgery. Deign Interventional cae report. Method A 60-year-old woman wa referred for management of an epiretinal membrane at the macula. Viual acuity wa 20/100 in the affected left eye. Vitreou urgery uing a 25-gauge vitrectomy ytem wa carried out with a combination of conventional cataract urgery. Reult The vitreou cutter wa lodged within the clerotomy cannula after peripheral vitrectomy and wa pulled together with the cannula. The cannula wa reinerted by trocar, but a the floating peeled epiretinal membrane wa diected with the vitreou cutter, the tip of the cutter wa broken and wa apirated with the membrane. tereocopic microcopy and canning electron microcopy demontrated that the edge that had broken at the cutter port wa mooth. Concluion Although 25-gauge intrument remain ueful, care hould be taken againt rare urgical complication related to their fragility.