Visual results following scleral buckling for retinal detachments sparing the macula

Scleral buckling was performed on 116 eyes with rhegmatogenous retinal detachments that spared macular function preoperatively. The retina was reattached in 97% of these eyes after one operation. The remaining cases were repaired successfully by a second procedure. Eight percent of the 90 eyes with preoperative vision of 20/30 or better experienced some visual loss postoperatively despite successful retinal reattachment. In 4% of these 90 eyes, the final vision was less than 20/40. Macular pucker was the most common cause of postoperative reduction in vision.