My mother recently told me that a 28yr old uncle of mine received a FOV (Floater Only Vitretomy), a surgery which replaces the vitreous humour in both eyes with a saline solution to remove floater debris . Apparently it cost him between $4000-8000!:eek:
Why is it so expensive? Judging from YouTube videos, it looks like quite a simple procedure.
Well, for starters the stuff they replace the eye goop with has to be VERY pure.
Also, the guy doing the work makes it look simple and easy, but he (or she) had to undergo a lot of schooling and training to be able to do the work properly and reliably.
And, frankly, $8k for an eye procedure isn’t “expensive” in today’s world.
I read that it involves at least one night in hospital and a lengthy time under anaesthetic, and this is doubled because each eye is done separately. Add in the pre-op consults and it’s easy to see $8,000 in the US. Probably half that anywhere else.
Agreed. We spent more than that on dining room chairs.
My god, I didn’t realize this procedure was so cheap. I may consider it, as my floaters are quite bothersome.
You do realize that the three 0’s you are seeing after the $8 are not floaters?
I am shocked that it is only $8k.
I had a victrectomy when I had my first retinal detachment surgery. Sure, they had to do a bit more than just the victrectomy (smoothing and re-attaching the retina), but I can’t imagine the resources required to do the surgery would be any less. I had the first surgery as an emergency on a Sunday morning, so everyone who was on site was there just for my procedure. A retinal surgeon, a surgical fellow assisting, an anesthesiologist, and a few nurses. You need an OR and a recovery room. Way more involved than LASIK, more like my cataract surgery.
I’m imagining how much insurance on elective eye surgery is, and how much that adds to the cost of this procedure.
Oh, there are only THREE zeros! Even better. 
Honestly, I’m more concerned about the risks than the cost. An eye doctor once told me it would be crazy to have a vitrectomy merely for floaters (although he did do one once on a professional tennis player whose floaters were interfering with his game). So I’m surprised to be seeing that this now seems like a fairly routine procedure for floaters.
Speaking as someone who had a bad outcome from a “routine” eye surgery, I would avoid any such invasive procedure unless the floaters are interfering with your life. I really don’t think that victrectomy is in any way routine for normal, age-related floaters.
Ugh. Just the bare thought of ANY surgery INSIDE MY EYES is unthinkable to me. It makes every muscle in my body cringe.
I heard about an orthopedic surgeon who was asked, “Why did you charge $5,000 to put a screw in my broken bone?” The surgeon replied, “$1 for the screw and $4,999 for knowing how to do it correctly.”
When I had a vitrectomy + repair of torn retina, it took an hour or so and it was done as an outpatient. There was a surgeon, his fellow (who actually did it) and a couple nurses. Of course, living in Canada, it didn’t cost me a cent.
When you have no choice, you get used to the idea. By the fourth procedure it was old hat.
There is an alternative option that uses a YAG laser. Don’t know the science behind it but I’m sure that several dopers have come across it.
Torn retina does not involve removing the vitreous humor. Big difference compared to a detached retina or any other procedure involving a vitrectomy. No comparison.
Well, hold on, my mother had a vitrectomy because the change in the eye fluid was tugging on her retina, opening a hole. That may be what Hari is talking about.
And let me say that the idea that I will likely have to undergo this procedure at some point horrifies me. Why can’t they just invent a chemical that helps the vitreous humor stay … humoriffic? How about it, science?
I need to look and see if this laser floater treatment has become more widely available and accepted, I would love to be rid of mine.
The neat thing is that after the vitrectomy the eye will naturally fill itself up with its own “saline” given time. To seal the retina reattachment, they fill the eye with SF6 gas to keep the retina in place. It’s slowly absorbed while saline makes its appearance.
A somewhat disturbing effect is that as the fluid builds up inside the eye, your brain flips what it perceives as the “fill line”, so that the line starts at the top of your field of vision and slowly lowers as the fluid builds up.
I praised the day when that annoying artifact disappeared from the bottom of my field of view.
So… if you stood on your head would the liquid/whatever respond to gravity and you could see the fill line move to a different position?