What is Cryopexy?
Cryopexy is a type of treatment that can be offered to repair a retinal tear/detachment. During this procedure, the doctor uses a specially designed probe that applies intense cold therapy to the back wall of the eye (sclera/retina) in order to create a scar tissue around the retinal tear. The scar tissue serves as a weld in order to prevent expansion of the retinal tear and prevent fluid from entering into the retinal tear and causing progressive retinal detachment. This procedure works well when there is no significant retinal detachment (subretinal fluid around the tear) and can help prevent need for more invasive procedures such as pneumatic retinopexy, vitrectomy, or scleral buckling. Relative to laser retinopexy, cryopexy can treat larger retinal tears or ones with associated detachment better.
What to expect?
Following confirmation that the patient is a candidate for cryopexy, one of our experienced technicians will adjust the patient’s seating in order to be relaxed and comfortable for the procedure. First, the technician places an anesthetic solution to numb the surface of the eye. The doctor will further anesthetize the eye with local lidocaine (takes effect within 5-15 minutes).
When the eye is fully numb, the patient will be adjusted in the chair depending on the location of the retinal tear/detachment. The doctor will then perform the procedure by placing a small cryoprobe behind the eye and applying the freezing. The procedure itself takes 1-6 minutes depending on the extent and number of retinal tears. The patient will then have the eye patched with ointment. During and following the procedure, eye/headache are common although generally mild and short lasting, but Tynelol can be necessary.Patient’s prior symptoms of floaters/blurred vision do not immediately improve as that can take days/weeks. It is important, however, to notify the physician of any new or worsening symptoms, such as floaters/flashes or sudden decrease in vision.