Comparison of visual acuity before and after PSF surgery under general anesthesia in prone position

Postoperative visual acuity impairment after posterior spinal fusion (PSF) is a rare complication. Regarding the visual loss effects in person’s life, the study of its prevalence and required cautions to prevention is important. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of visual acuity loss in patients underwent PSF under general anesthesia in prone position.

Study was quasiexpri-mental.100 patients were selected randomly among PSF candidates in Rasule-Akram, Shafa-Yahyaeian and Firoozgar hospitals in Tehran. These patients have the predefined criteria to enroll in the study. The visual acuity was measured before and after PSF surgery using snelen chart.

Right eye visual acuity loss was seen in 2 of 100 studied patients after PSF surgery, that is comparable to previous studies. Over all, there were not significant differences in visual acuity before and after surgery in both eyes.

In conclusion, it seems that with applying required cautions the prevalence of postoperative visual acuity loss is about 0.1 to 1 percent.