A case-control study to assess aspirin as a risk factor of bleeding in rhegmatogenous retinal detachment surgery

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the hemorrhagic risk factors during the management of primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RD).

Three hundred and twenty-two patients with (n = 74) or without (n = 248) bleeding (anterior segment, choroidal, intravitreal and/or subretinal) during or after RD surgery were included in this case-control study. Exclusion criteria were: history of trauma, vitreoretinal surgery, diabetic retinopathy, and taking clopidogrel and/or a vitamin K antagonist. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify risk factors of perioperative bleeding.

Aspirin was not significantly associated with bleeding complications during or after surgery (p = 0.8). Scleral buckling (with cryotherapy and gas tamponnade) was performed in 47 % of the cases and pars plana vitrectomy in 53 % of the cases. Independent risk factors of perioperative hemorrhage were the number of cryotherapy impacts (odds ratio =1.12 [1.06; 1.20], 95 % confidence interval), transscleral drainage (OR = 4.22 [1.62; 10.98]), and use of pars plana vitrectomy (OR = 3.39 [1.36; 8.47]). Bleeding complications were associated with a lower single-operation anatomical success rate (74 % vs 84 %, p = 0.03). There was also a trend toward an association between bleeding complications, a higher total number of RD recurrences (0.19 ± 0.5 in the non-bleeding group vs 0.34 ± 0.6, p = 0.06), and a lower final visual acuity (0.5 ± 0.6 logMAR vs 0.7 ± 0.7, p = 0.09).

This case-control study suggests that aspirin is not a major risk factor of hemorrhagic complications during and after RD surgery. Perioperative bleeding leads to a lower single-operation anatomic success rate.