Management of retinal detachment after penetrating eye injury

Between December 1981 and April 1989 the authors operated on 61 eyes presenting with retinal detachment after penetrating eye injury. Air or expanding gases were used for retinal tamponade. The follow-up between complete gas absorption and last examination ranged from 8 months to 8 years (mean, 29 months). Retinal reattachment was achieved in 50 eyes (81.9%). Anatomic success was achieved by a single operation in 43 eyes (70.5%). A postoperative visual acuity of 20/40 or better was achieved in 46% of the eyes. The factors found to influence the postoperative outcome adversely include (1) association of severe blunt trauma (P less than 0.05), (2) anterior proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) involving two or more quadrants (P less than 0.01), and (2) retinotomies (P less than 0.007).