This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Retinal detachment surgery trends differ but yield similar outcomes
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Different primary retinal detachment procedures are preferred at different centers but yield comparable anatomical and visual outcomes, a study found.
The most commonly used treatments for primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment — scleral buckling, pars plana vitrectomy and pneumatic retinopexy — were analyzed in a retrospective, interventional, bicenter study.
The 230 patients in the study underwent retinal detachment repair at either a center in Vienna or one in New York City. Scleral buckling was the most common procedure performed at the Vienna center, while vitrectomy was the most common procedure at the New York center. Pneumatic retinopexy was performed only rarely at the New York Center and not at all at the Vienna center.
Considering that both scleral buckling and vitrectomy have similar costs and result in similar anatomical and visual outcomes, the differences in frequency of performance could be attributed to the lack of training and education about scleral buckling, according to the study.
“Overall, there is an increasing trend toward primary vitrectomy for the treatment of patients with phakic and pseudophakic [retinal detachments] and the use of small-gauge vitrectomy,” the study authors said.
The study was limited by its small size and use of only two examining centers, according to the authors.