New inferior retinal detachment after scleral buckling procedure with intraocular gas injection

In a series of 72 rhegmatogenous retinal detachments treated by scleral buckling procedure with or without intraocular gas injection, 5 patients showed a subsequent inferior retinal detachment in the operated eye early in the postoperative period. All 5 eyes had been injected with air or sulfur hexafluoride intraoperatively or postoperatively, and had vitreoretinal adhesions such as lattice degeneration in the inferior equatorial fundus. To investigate the factors involved in the development of the new inferior retinal detachment, the data on the 72 eyes of retinal detachment were analyzed. Intraocular gas injection, inferior vitreoretinal adhesion, and the volume of injected gas were the significantly associated factors (P < 0.05). It was suggested the intraocular gas bubble could produce traction on the site of inferior vitreoretinal adhesion, leading to new inferior retinal detachment.