Intraocular pressure rebound.

Hyperosmolar solutions and digital massage are frequent adjuncts employed to minimize vitreous loss at cataract extraction (Scott, i962; Virno, Cantore, Bietti, and Bucci, I963; Murray and Tipler, I966; Guyton, I954; Kirsch and Steinman, I955). The former is effective in reducing vitreous mass during the time interval usually necessary to complete a lens extraction, but the latter may not have great value in this regard. In rabbit experiments in the closed eye, within 5 minutes of the completion of massage, vitreous weight has reached its baseline (Obstbaum, Robbins, Best, and Galin, 1971). In patients, intraocular pressure has usually reached its lowest level within I 5 minutes of the completion of 5 minutes of digital massage. In the open eye also, previous massage does not increase the vitreal water loss that occurs after simply opening the rabbit eye (Galin, Robbins, and Obstbaum, I 97 I) . Since the application of digital massage and the administration of hyperosmolar therapy are often carried out together, a study was initiated to determine if hyperosmolar vitreous dehydration could offset the phenomenon of compression vitreous rebound in rabbits.