PRIMARY VITRECTOMY FOR RHEGMATOGENOUS RETINAL-DETACHMENT

One hundred and twenty-four eyes with a rhegmatogenous retinal detachm ent, considered to be at high risk of failure if treated conventionall y, underwent vitrectomy and internal tamponade, with or without sclera l buckling, as the primary procedure. The retina was reattached in 64. 5% of eyes after one operation, 75.0% after two, and in 83% of eyes af ter more than two operations, with no difference in the success rate b etween those eyes which underwent vitrectomy alone, and those that rec eived adjunctive scleral buckling; duration of surgery was significant ly shorter, however, in the former group. Twenty percent of eyes redet ached in association with proliferative vitreoretinopathy, and 20% of phakic eyes developed posterior subcapsular lens opacities after surge ry. Vitrectomy is now an established method in the management of selec ted cases of rhegmatogenous retinal detachments.