Aim: To evaluate the outcome and safety profile of short-term perfluorocarbon liquids (PFCL) tamponade in comparison with buckle-vitrectomy in case of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) associated with choroidal detachment (CD).
Methods: Records of patients who underwent surgery for RRD/CD from January 2016 to July 2019 were reviewed retrospectively. The patients were allocated into two groups-group 1 patients underwent buckle-vitrectomy, while those in group 2 underwent a two-staged vitrectomy with short-term (5 days) PFCL tamponade.
Results: The study included 33 eyes (33 patients) with mean age of 50.3 ± 17.2 years. Group 1 included 15 patients, while group 2 included 18. The pre-operative characteristics were similar in both the groups. The mean pre-operative intraocular pressure in group 1 and 2 was 9.1 ± 4.0 and 8.6 ± 5.2 mmHg, respectively (p = 0.755). Retinal re-attachment after single surgery was achieved in 10 (66.7%) and 14 eyes (77.8%), respectively. All the eyes achieved retinal re-attachment after repeat surgery in both the groups (1.40 vs 1.39 surgeries, p = 0.963). Post-surgery visual improvement was seen in 13 (86.7%) and 17 eyes (94.4%), respectively (p = 0.579). Final visual acuity of ≥ 6/60 was obtained in 7 (46.7%) and 9 eyes (50.0%), respectively (p > 0.999). None of the patients needed retinectomy during repeat surgery. None of the patients experienced exaggerated inflammation or intractable raised IOP spike which could not be controlled with medications.
Conclusion: Surgical outcomes were similar in both the groups. No clinically apparent toxicity was seen with post-operative short-term PFCL tamponade. Two-staged surgery is a good alternative to buckle-vitrectomy for eyes with RRD associated with CD.
Keywords: Choroidal detachment (CD); Perfluorocarbon liquids (PFCL); Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR); Rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD); Short term; Two-staged surgery.