Objective: To investigate the effects of age, peeled membrane type, dye type and intraocular tamponade type on the final best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in cases with idiopathic epiretinal membrane (ERM) surgery.

Material and Method: Twenty-two eyes of 22 idiopathic patients with ERM were included. Analyses were made according to age (≤65 years or >65 years), peeled membrane type (ERM or ERM+internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling), membrane dye type (no dye or trypan blue) and tamponade type (sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), perfluoropropane (C3F8) or air).

Results: The number of patients aged ≤65 years was 7 (31.8%), while the number of patients aged >65 years was 15 (68.2%) (p =0.035). Compared to preoperative period, there was a significant increase in BCVA in the postoperative period (0.24±0.13 vs 0.37±0.15, p <0.001). Trypan blue was used in 17 (77.3%) cases, whereas no dye was used in 5 (22.7%) cases (p =0.010). Only ERM was peeled in 4 (18.2%) patients, while both ERM and ILM were peeled in 18 (81.8%) patients (p <0.001). SF6 was used in 10 (45.4%) cases, C3F8 was applied in 6 (27.3%) cases, and air was used in 6 (27.3%) cases (p =0.594). When comparisons of mean BCVA changes after surgery according to age (p =0.686), peeled membrane type (p =0.131), dye type (p =0.307) and tamponade type (p =0.140) were made, no significant difference was observed between the groups.

Conclusion: We found a significant visual improvement after surgery for idiopathic ERM. However, we detected no significant influence of the age, peeled membrane type, dye type and tamponade type on final visual outcome.