Inferior retinal detachment repair using vitrectomy with or without scleral buckling

Purpose: To compare outcomes in inferior rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) repair using pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) or PPV with scleral buckle (PPV-SB). Methods: Patients who underwent surgery for inferior RRD at a tertiary care center between 2014 and 2018 were included. Inferior RRD was defined as RD with tears between 4:00 and 8:00 clock hours in a detached retina. Non-RRD etiologies (e.g., traumatic, tractional), proliferative vitreoretinopathy grade ≥C2, and silicone oil use were excluded. Single-surgery anatomic success was defined as the absence of reoperation for recurrent RRD during follow-up. Results: There were 366 patients included of which 260 (71%) were operated using PPV-SB. Single-surgery anatomic success was achieved in 96 (91%) of patients with pars plana vitrectomy and 227 (87%) of patients with PPV-SB ( P = 0.38) over a median follow-up of 15 months. At the final follow-up, pinhole visual acuity was 0.18 (0.10–0.30) among patients with pars plana vitrectomy and 0.18 (0.10–0.40) among patients with PPV-SB (Snellen equivalent: 20/30; P = 0.03). After adjusting for demographic (i.e., age and sex) and preoperative characteristics (i.e., macula on status, baseline pinhole visual acuity, and grade C1 proliferative vitreoretinopathy), PPV-SB did not alter single-surgery anatomic success ( P = 0.210). Conclusion: Following inferior RRD repair, there were no significant differences in single-surgery anatomic success between patients undergoing pars plana vitrectomy and PPV-SB in this large, retrospective cohort.