Refractive changes following scleral buckling surgery in juvenile retinal detachment

To examine the effects of scleral buckling on the eye growth of children after retinal detachment repair according to the degree of refractive change.

Thirty-five eyes of 35 patients (mean age, 11.5 years; range, 7-15 years) were treated using a silicone implant scleral buckling procedure. Postoperative refractive change in the treated eyes was analyzed statistically, with the fellow eyes used as controls. The effects of age at the time of surgery, length of the silicone tire, postoperative visual acuity, and postoperative refraction were also examined.

The mean refractive change in treated eyes from 1 to 4 years after the procedure was -0.6 diopter (D), whereas the mean change in fellow eyes was -1.3 D. The treated eyes became less myopic than the fellow eyes (P=0.024), particularly in patients younger than 10 years (-0.1 D versus -1.6 D, respectively; P=0.003) or when the scleral buckle extended beyond two quadrants (-0.4 D versus -1.3 D, respectively; P=0.020).

Scleral buckling resulted in significantly less myopia, particularly in younger patients and in those receiving longer buckling tires. This finding suggests that scleral buckling in children might impede ocular growth.