The influence of subconjunctival depot corticosteroid on choroidal detachment following retinal detachment surgery

This study indicates that primary retinal detachment surgery on patients aged 55 or over is complicated by uveitis and choroidal detachment at approximate rates of 24% and 44%, respectively. These complications did not influence the anatomic cure rate or recovery of visual acuity. Although only 89 patients were recruited, the technique of random selection equally distributed the parameters studied and provided results of high reliability. The internal controls of the protocol prevented the examiners from being aware of whether the drug or placebo had been administered. We were concerned that the corticosteroid injection might have been producing the apparent increase in infection rate of 7.7% and the study was temporarily discontinued. Because statistical analysis showed there was no significant difference in infection rate between the treatment and control groups, the project could have been continued again.