Comparison of Two surgical treatments for Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment

Abstract

Purpose:To compare the success rate of pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) and scleral buckling in terms of visual outcomes, repeated surgeries and postoperative complications for the treatment of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. Methods:We collected data of all patients operated in one tertiary medical center in Israel during the year 2019. Patient over the age of 18 years with at least one year of follow-up were included. Retinal attachment rate, visual outcomes and postoperative complications were compared.Results: Included were 30 patients that underwent posterior vitrectomy and 36 that underwent scleral buckling. All patients were operated by the same surgeon. Success rate of retina re-attachment were almost the same in both groups (86.7% vs 86.1 for vitrectomy and scleral buckle respectively, p = 0.948). In both groups there was a significant improvement of the final visual acuity compared to the pre-operative visual acuity (0.146 ± 0.1 vs 0.149 ± 0.1 Log MAR improvement for vitrectomy and scleral buckle respectively, p = 0.411). A strong correlation existed between the number of operations to reattachments -any additional surgery drops the chance of reattachment by 2.4% (odds ratio: 0.024, 95% CI 0.003 -0.208, p ≤ 0.001).Conclusion: Among a modern cohort of patients with retinal detachment, no differences were seen in success rates or visual outcomes between patients treated with posterior vitrectomies compared to scleral buckling.