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.