Outcomes of scleral buckle removal with and without concurrent prophylactic laser retinopexy

To present the outcomes of scleral buckle (SB) removal with and without concurrent prophylactic laser retinopexy.

Retrospective, interventional case series.

Eighty-seven eyes of 87 patients who had SB removal after primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment repair.

All patients who had SB removal after primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment repair from both Wills Eye Institute and University of Alberta from 2000 to 2011 were identified. All patients had a minimum of 6 months of follow-up.

Eighty-seven patients met the study criteria. Primary indications for SB removal were extrusion (76%, n = 66), diplopia (8%, n = 7), infection (6%, n = 5), a combination of extrusion and infection (6%, n = 5), and others (5%, n = 4). Only 3 of 87 eyes (3.4%) developed a recurrent retinal detachment after SB removal. Only 1 eye (2.2%) from the group that received laser retinopexy (n = 45) at the time of SB removal had a retinal redetachment, whereas 2 eyes (4.2%) in the group that did not receive laser (n = 42) had a recurrent retinal detachment (p = 0.61).

The overall rate of recurrent retinal detachment after SB removal was low. No significant difference in recurrent retinal detachment was found between the eyes that received prophylactic laser retinopexy compared with those that did not at the time of SB removal.