Silicone oil removal after vitrectomy: why the oil is used, how long it stays, how the second operation works and what vision does afterwards.
11.10.2026
If you have had a vitrectomy, your surgeon filled the eye with something to hold the retina in place while it healed. That something was either a gas bubble or silicone oil, and the difference matters enormously for what happens next. Gas dissolves and is gradually replaced by the eye's own fluid over weeks, and nothing further is needed. Silicone oil does not dissolve at all. It sits in the eye doing its job, and at some point it has to be removed in a second, shorter operation.
Most people are told this before surgery, but very little of it sticks when you are frightened and cannot see properly. This page explains the second stage plainly: why the oil is there, how long it stays, what removal involves, and what vision realistically does afterwards.
Gas is the usual choice for a straightforward retinal detachment. It presses the retina flat, then disappears on its own. Surgeons reach for silicone oil when the eye needs support for longer than a gas bubble can provide, or when gas is not an option at all.
Common reasons include a complicated or recurrent detachment, scar tissue pulling on the retina (proliferative vitreoretinopathy), a large or inferior retinal tear, a detachment caused by injury, severe diabetic retinopathy, and detachments in eyes that have already been operated on. Oil is also chosen when a patient needs to fly soon after surgery, or cannot hold a face-down position for days — oil does not expand with cabin pressure, and it depends far less on head positioning than gas does. The vitrectomy recovery timeline covers that first stage week by week.
Your operation report says so, and the clinic can tell you in a sentence. The way it looks also differs. A gas bubble appears as a dark, wobbling line or dome that moves clearly when you move your head and visibly shrinks week by week. Silicone oil usually gives vision a steadier, slightly magnified or oddly reflective quality, often with a visible edge that barely changes month after month. If what you see has not changed in six weeks, you most likely have oil rather than gas. Ask — never assume.
For most eyes, somewhere between three and six months. Some surgeons remove it as early as eight to twelve weeks; others leave it a year or longer when the retina is fragile.
The timing depends on why the oil was used in the first place, how well the retina has settled, whether scar tissue is still active, the pressure inside the eye, and the condition of the cornea. It is a judgement your surgeon makes at the slit lamp, not a date that can be fixed in advance. Removing oil too early risks the retina lifting again; leaving it indefinitely brings problems of its own.
Silicone oil is well tolerated, but not indefinitely. Three complications drive the decision to remove it.
Cataract. Almost every eye that has had a vitrectomy with oil develops clouding of the lens, often within a year. This is so predictable that surgeons frequently remove the lens and implant an artificial one during the same session as the oil removal. Recovery after cataract surgery describes what that part of it feels like.
Raised eye pressure. Oil can interfere with the eye's drainage, and emulsified oil droplets can block it further. Persistently high pressure damages the optic nerve, which is why pressure is measured at every visit and why pressure-lowering surgery is occasionally needed alongside.
Keratopathy. If oil reaches the front of the eye and touches the cornea, the cornea can cloud and lose its transparency. This is the most urgent reason to remove oil, and the reason your surgeon examines the front of the eye at every visit, not just the retina.
Emulsification — the oil breaking up into tiny droplets that scatter through the eye — becomes more likely the longer oil stays, and it makes all three of these problems more likely in turn.
It is a shorter and gentler procedure than the vitrectomy itself. The surgeon uses the same small ports in the white of the eye, and the oil is actively drawn out while balanced salt solution takes its place. The retina is then inspected carefully and any weak areas are treated with laser. If a cataract has formed, it is usually dealt with in the same sitting.
Typical theatre time is thirty to sixty minutes, longer if lens surgery or extra retinal work is combined. Most eyes are done under local anaesthesia — an injection around the eye, so you are awake but feel nothing — with sedation if you want it. General anaesthesia is used for children, for very anxious patients, and when the case is expected to be complex. It is usually a day case: in and out the same day, with a check the following morning.
Occasionally the surgeon decides during the operation to put fresh oil or gas back in rather than leave the eye filled with fluid. That is not a complication; it means the retina needed more support than expected.
The first days are often disappointing, and patients are rarely warned about this clearly enough. Vision immediately after removal is typically blurrier than it was with the oil in — the eye is inflamed, the optics of the eye have changed, and the brain has spent months reading an oil-filled eye.
Blurring, a dull ache, redness, watering and light sensitivity during the first week are expected. Many patients notice their prescription has shifted substantially, because oil changes the focusing power of the eye; new glasses are usually not prescribed for at least six to eight weeks.
Vision generally begins to settle somewhere in the second to fourth week and continues improving for three to six months. How much sight returns is governed almost entirely by the state of the retina — particularly whether the macula was detached before the first operation, and for how long — rather than by the removal itself. An eye that saw poorly with oil in will not usually see sharply once the oil is out. That is the honest version, and it is better to hear it now than to be disappointed later.
Your surgeon's instructions take priority over anything written here, and your eye drop schedule comes from the clinic, not from the internet. In general: no rubbing or pressing the eye, no swimming or saunas for several weeks, no heavy lifting or straining, no gyms, and sunglasses outdoors. Showering is fine as long as you keep water and shampoo out of the eye.
Head positioning is usually not required after a plain oil removal, because there is no bubble to position. If fresh gas or oil was put back in, positioning rules apply again and the clinic will spell them out. Flying is normally allowed sooner than after gas surgery, but it still needs explicit clearance — when it is safe to fly home after surgery explains why that confirmation matters.
Normal during the first week or two: blurred and fluctuating vision, grittiness, a dull ache, redness, watering, mild light sensitivity, floaters, and seeing small shiny droplets if some oil remains — a tiny residue is common and usually harmless.
Contact your surgeon or the clinic the same day if you have severe or worsening pain that painkillers do not touch, a sudden drop in vision after things had been improving, a new shadow or curtain across any part of your field of view, a sudden shower of new floaters or flashes of light, or increasing redness with discharge. These can signal raised pressure, infection or a fresh detachment, and every one of them is far easier to treat early. Do not wait for your next scheduled appointment.
Removing silicone oil carries a real risk that the retina detaches again. Published figures vary widely depending on how difficult the original case was; in eyes that needed oil in the first place, the risk is meaningful rather than negligible, and it is highest in the first weeks after removal.
This is precisely why surgeons do not rush the removal, why they laser weak areas during it, and why follow-up appointments in the first three months are not optional. If a detachment does happen it is treatable — but only if it is found quickly, and that depends on you reporting changes rather than waiting to see whether they pass.
Sometimes the safest decision is to leave the oil where it is. That is usually the case in eyes with very extensive scarring, in eyes where the retina is attached only because the oil is holding it, after severe injury, in eyes with very little remaining vision where the goal is to keep the eye comfortable and structurally sound, and in patients who cannot attend the frequent follow-up that removal requires.
Living with permanent oil means lifelong monitoring of eye pressure and of the cornea. It is not a failure or a second-best outcome; it is a deliberate trade-off that protects what the eye still has.
At our partner ophthalmology hospitals in Antalya, vitrectomy starts from €6,000 per eye, and an ophthalmologist's consultation starts from $150. These prices are valid until 31 December 2026.
We do not publish a separate price for silicone oil removal, and we will not quote you an invented figure. The cost of the second stage depends on its extent — whether cataract surgery, laser or additional retinal work is combined, which anaesthesia is used, and how long you need to stay — and it is set by the hospital after an examination. Reviewing your records and operation report costs nothing: send them and the clinic will tell you what the second stage involves for your eye specifically, before you commit to travelling. How an eye-surgery trip to Antalya is organised sets out how the days are usually planned.
Is silicone oil removal painful?
The operation itself is not — local anaesthesia means you feel nothing during it. Afterwards most patients describe a gritty, bruised ache for a few days that ordinary painkillers handle. Severe pain is not expected and should be reported straight away.
Will my vision be better straight after the oil comes out?
Usually not at first. Expect it to be worse for several days to a couple of weeks, then to improve gradually over months. The final level depends on the condition of the retina, not on the removal.
What happens if silicone oil is never removed?
In some eyes leaving it is the right plan, with lifelong monitoring. Left without monitoring, oil can cause cataract, raised pressure that damages the optic nerve, and clouding of the cornea. That decision belongs with your surgeon, not with the calendar.
Can I fly after silicone oil removal?
Usually sooner than after gas surgery, because there is no expanding bubble — but only once your surgeon has examined the eye and confirmed it. If fresh gas was placed during the removal, flying is off the table until it has absorbed.
How long should I plan to stay in Turkey for the removal?
Plan for around a week, including the pre-operative examination and at least two post-operative checks, and keep the return date flexible. The clinic confirms the exact plan after assessing your records.
Does silicone oil removal cause cataract?
The oil does, not the removal — which is why the lens is often replaced during the same session. Ask your surgeon whether that is planned for you, because it changes what to expect from your vision afterwards.
Related: Vitrectomy recovery: what to expect · Retina surgery (vitrectomy) · Cataract surgery recovery
This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not diagnose, and it is not a treatment plan. Timing, technique, medication and expected results are determined individually by a licensed ophthalmic surgeon after examination.
Send us what you already have — the pathology report, imaging on disc, discharge summaries. A specialist at a partner hospital will review it and tell you what is realistic in your case and how quickly treatment could begin. Reviewing your documents costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
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