[Puncture in retinal detachment surgery]

This survey has been carried out over 186 operations for retinal detachment during which a voluntary or accidental drainage took place in 2/3 of the cases. Its frequency is studied according to the type of the detachment, its age, the duration of the preperatory rest, the number of operations and the surgical technique. The postsurgical evolution of detachments with drainage shows that the vitreous is more frequently clouded, later cleared up, and that there are more choroidal detachments and more retinal hemorrhages. The frequency of the early retinal flattening, the only one which has been studied, is not increased by drainage. It is no use debating the opportunity of drainage because indeed it is often imposed on the surgeon a as a last resort by the type of the detachment. The means for limiting its frequency are reviewed.