Perioperative Ischemic Optic Neuropathy

BACKGROUND: Ischemic optic neuropathy is the most common cause of perioperative vision loss. The authors sought to determine its incidence and identify risk factors that may contribute to perioperative ischemic optic neuropathy associated with nonophthalmologic surgical procedures at their institution. METHODS: Seventeen patients who experienced perioperative ischemic optic neuropathy were included in a retrospective chart review case-control study. The authors matched each patient with two control patients who had a similar surgical procedure but did not lose vision. They analyzed multiple perioperative variables for the case and control groups. RESULTS: From among 126,666 surgical procedures performed during the study period, the authors identified 17 patients with perioperative ischemic optic neuropathy, yielding an overall incidence of 0.013%. There were no hemodynamic variables that differed significantly between the ischemic optic neuropathy patients and the matched control patients. CONCLUSION: The authors conclude that perioperative ischemic optic neuropathy can occur in the absence of atypical fluctuations in hemodynamic variables during the perioperative period.