Anatomical and functional outcomes of RETINOTOMY on primary inferior RHEGMATOGENOUS retinal detachment

Abstract

Purpose: To analyse the anatomical and functional outcomes of pars plana vitrectomy combined with retinotomy alone in primary inferior rhegmatogenous retinal detachments (RD). Methods: Data from 139 patients who underwent vitreoretinal surgery for inferior RD in Centro Hospitalar Vila Nova de Gaia/Espinho, between 2012 and 2021 by the same surgeon, were analysed. Univariate and multivariate analysis were performed. Outcomes such as visual acuity (VA) and occurrence of complications were studied. Results: From the total 139 eyes analyse, 72 were subject to vitrectomy combined with retinotomy. Among them, 79% had macula‐off at the time of surgery and 94.4% had proliferative vitreoretinopathy (grade B or C). Functional success, with VA improvement or stabilization after surgery, was 75%. VA was significantly improved from 1.61 to 0.73 logarithm of the minimal angle of resolution units (p < 0.001). The anatomic success rate was 95.8% in the first surgery. Conclusions: Inferior RD is a significant clinical and surgical challenge for vitreoretinal surgeons and the choice between the best surgical technique is still controversial. These cases frequently require some additional measures to vitreoretinal surgery due to its high recurrence rate. Our results show that vitrectomy with retinotomy alone on primary inferior RD has high anatomical and functional success rates.