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Foreign body extractor allows safe, effective removal in traumatized eyes
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ROME — A simple device can safely and effectively remove larger intraocular foreign bodies with minimally traumatic maneuvers.
The instrument, developed by Claus Eckardt, MD, is a modification of the Erakgün snare. The device has a tubular handpiece with a retractable wire snare made of a metallic alloy that is capable of returning to its initial form after being bent. Once the instrument is inserted in the globe, the snare is pushed out. The loop is kept fairly large to surround the foreign body, and is then tightened around the foreign body to firmly grasp and withdraw it from the eye. With this instrument, intraocular foreign bodies of different sizes and shapes can be removed easily, said one speaker here.
“The loop of the extractor comes out at an angle of 80°, and is able to hold and remove long objects almost vertically, along the axis of the instrument,” said Tillmann Eckert, MD, at the International Society of Ocular Trauma meeting.
“If additional maneuvers are needed, the extractor can be used like a spoon within the vitreous cavity to disengage and place the foreign body in the best position to capture it,” Dr. Eckert added.