Risk factors for development of choroidal detachment after scleral buckling procedure

To determine risk factors of choroidal detachment after scleral buckling procedure for treatment of retinal detachment.

Retrospective chart review.

The authors performed a retrospective study of 69 consecutive cases of retinal detachment from January 2007 to January 2008 treated by scleral buckling surgery. Two groups of patients were defined according to the absence or apparition of choroidal detachment, and a comparison of several parameters between these 2 groups was performed.

Fifteen patients developed a choroidal detachment. The study found an average higher level of systolic blood pressure during surgery in the group with choroidal detachment than in the absence group (127.3 vs 119.1 mm Hg; P = .008). The authors also observed a statistically significant difference between the 2 groups when comparing the intraoperative peak value of systolic blood pressure (149.3 vs 138.5 mm Hg; P = .019). Finally, in the group that developed choroidal detachment, there were statistically more patients with high myopia (P = .02).

This study highlights that the 2 main risk factors for development of choroidal detachment during scleral buckling surgery are high blood pressure during the intervention and the existence of high myopia.