Pars plana vitrectomy versus combined pars plana vitrectomy and scleral buckle for primary repair of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment

Objective

To compare pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) with PPV and scleral buckle (PPV/SB) for repair of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD).

Design

A retrospective chart review.

Participants

Patients who underwent PPV or PPV/SB for RRD repair at a single institution.

Methods

A retrospective chart review of patients in two different treatment groups and analysis of the anatomic and functional results.

Results

Single-surgery anatomic success was achieved in 31 of 37 (83.8%) phakic eyes that underwent PPV and in 66 of 68 (97.1%) phakic eyes that underwent PPV/SB (p = 0.0216). Among pseudophakic eyes, 42 of 48 (87.5%) in the PPV group and 62 of 66 (93.9%) in the PPV/SB group achieved single-surgery reattachment (p = 0.3175). Visual acuity improvement was marginally greater in the PPV group among phakic (p = 0.4898) and pseudophakic (p = 0.2465) eyes.

Conclusions

PPV/SB may be associated with a decreased risk for retinal redetachment when compared to PPV for repair of phakic RRD. In pseudophakic eyes, the anatomic success rate between the two techniques appears to be similar.