Thrombin infusion to control bleeding during vitrectomy for stage V retinopathy of prematurity.

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.