Aspiration from the vitreous of a non-magnetic foreign body

Abstract

A non-magnetic vitreal foreign body was aspirated from over the macula through the pars plana. The surgeon guided a blunt needle towards the foreign body while watching both with the binocular indirect ophthalmoscope. His assistant's tentative suction movements with an attached syringe drew the foreign body up into the needle without risking a retinal perforation. Visual recovery was complete. It is suggested that aspiration might be the procedure of choice for such small visible intraocular fragments.