Surgical Outcome of Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment with Medium Severity by Superior Located Break

1. Yunyoung Kim
2. Sooyoon Lee

The Catholic University of Daegu School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea

Purpose: To compare the surgical results of sclera buckling (SB) and pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) for superior rhegmatogenous retinal detachments (RRD) of medium severity.

Methods: Included in the study were 79 patients (79 eyes) undergoing primary surgery by two surgeons between March 2003 and March 2010 for superior rhegmatogenous retinal detachment of medium severity (61 eyes by vitrectomy, 18 eyes by sclera buckling). The preoperative clinical features, surgical outcome, changes in visual acuity and the rate of complications were retrospectively compared between the two groups.

Results: The mean number of retinal breaks was significantly higher in the PPV group, but other preoperative clinical features were not different between two groups. Primary anatomical success was reached in 87% in the PPV group and 78% in the SB group. Final anatomical success was achieved in 100% in the PPV group and 95% in the SB group. There was no statistically significant correlation between surgical method and recurrence. The BCVA was significantly improved compared with preoperative BCVA in both treatment group. There was no difference in the rate of complication and mean visual acuity change between the treatment group.

Conclusions: No statistically significant difference in improvement of visual acuity, primary and final success rate between the two procedures were demonstrated in superior RRD of medium severity, even though the number of retinal breaks could influence the selection of the surgical method.