Intestinal Surgery Can Lead to Eye Problems

Surgery on the intestines can lead to the malabsorption of vitamin A, creating eye problems years or even decades after surgery, especially when other illnesses are present, a new study has found.

Researchers from the Cullen Eye Institute at the Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, TX, USA) reviewed the records of patients diagnosed with vitamin A deficiency during 2005 and identified four cases related to gastrointestinal surgery. One patient developed ocular symptoms within months of gastric bypass surgery, while the other three did not have visual symptoms until at least 18 years after intestinal surgery.

The first of the three patients with late visual problems was a 69-year-old man who reported having night blindness for four months; he had undergone intestinal bypass surgery 20 years earlier. The second patient was an 80-year-old man who complained of four months of decreased vision in the right eye that was worse in dim light; 36 years earlier he had undergone partial small- and large-bowel resection related to Crohn's disease. The third patient reported several months of decreased vision in both eyes that was worse at night; her medical history included multiple abdominal surgeries 18 to 20 years earlier as a result of complications from gallbladder surgery. Eye tests showed abnormalities in all three cases and lab tests confirmed vitamin A deficiency. The findings were reported in the August 2006 issue of the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

The authors, Drs. Teresa Chae and Rod Foroozan, suggest that vitamin A deficiency should be suspected in patients with unexplained decreased vision and a history of intestinal surgery, regardless of the timing of the surgical procedure.



Related Links:
Baylor College of Medicine