Objective To observe the relationship between the size of idiopathic macular hole (IMH) and the healing types of postoperative photoreceptor layer after vitrectomy. Methods This prospective uncontrolled study included 33 eyes of 31 consecutive patients who underwent vitrectomy for IMH. There were 9 males (9 eyes) and 22 females (22 eyes), with the mean age of (58.16±9.10) years. The mean duration of symptoms was (4.97±5.97) months. The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) were measured for all patients. BCVA was measured with international standard visual acuity chart and then converted to logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR). The mean logMAR BCVA was 1.07± 0.38. The mean intraocular pressure was (14.05±0.54) mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa). The minimum size of the macular hole (MIN), the base diameter of the macular hole (BASE), the average width of the macular hole (AWMH) and the average height of the macular hole (AHMH) were (465.19±232.84), (943.63±389.26), (704.72±292.64), (443.84±72.47) μm, respectively. According to the MIN value, the hole size were divided into small, medium and large group which had 9 eyes, 15 eyes, 9 eyes, respectively. According to the postoperative OCT characteristics, the healing types of the photoreceptor layer were divided into 0 - Ⅳ types. All patients underwent pars plana vitrectomy (25G or 27G standard three-incision) with internal limiting membrane peeling with tamponade agents. The mean follow-up was (326.42±157.17) days. The first postoperative OCT characteristics were defined as the early period. The therapy results were evaluated according to the last follow-up time point. BCVA and intraocular pressure before and after operation were compared by paired t test. The postoperative BCVA were compared with preoperative BCVA, MIN, AWMH, AHMH and follow-up using Pearson correlation analysis. Results At the last follow-up, the LogMAR BCVA was 1.52 - 1.40 in 3 eyes, 1.30 - 0.52 in 22 eyes and 0.40 - −0.07 in 8 eyes. Compared with preoperative that, the difference was statistically significant (t=−6.023, P＜0.001). The photoreceptor healing was type 0 in 10 eyes (30.3%), type Ⅰ in 4 eyes (12.1%), typeⅡ in 10 eyes (30.3%), type Ⅲ in 9 eyes (27.3%) at the early postoperative period. The photoreceptor healing was type 0 in 5 eyes (15.2%), type Ⅰ in 5 eyes (15.2%), type Ⅲ in 12 eyes (36.4 %), type Ⅳ in 11 eyes (33.3%) at the last follow-up. The preoperative size of IMH was negatively correlated to the photoreceptor healing types at early postoperative period (r=−0.590, P＜0.01) and the last follow-up (r=−0.768, P＜0.01), respectively. The correlation analysis showed that the postoperative BCVA associated with the preoperative BCVA, the stage of the macular hole, the size of the macular hole, MIN, BASE, AWMH, AHMH, the healing types of photoreceptor layer of the early and the last follow-up after surgery (r=0.500, 0.370, 0.470, 0.435, 0.533、0.505, 0.462, −0.442, −0.656, P＜0.05). There was no correlation between age, visual decreasing times and follow-up times (r=0.285, 0.234, −0.310, P＞0.05). Conclusion The preoperative sizes of IMH were associated with the postoperative healing types of photoreceptor layer.