Background: The purpose of our study was to evaluate the influence of scleral buckling on the ocular pulse amplitude (OPA) following retinal detachment (RD) surgery.
Patients and methods: The study included 48 patients with unilateral rhegmatogenous RD who underwent an uncomplicated RD operation using the conventional technique of scleral buckling without vitrectomy. Patients with ocular disease other than RD or systemic vascular disease, as well as those under local or systemic treatment potentially affecting the regulation of the ocular blood flow, were excluded. In addition to standard ocular examination, the OPA was measured using dynamic observing tonometry with SmartLens device before and after the operation.
Results: Mean preoperative OPA was 2.34 +/- 0.25 mm Hg, while mean postoperative OPA was 0.68 +/- 0.07 mm Hg for scleral buckling equal or greater than 3 quadrants (group C), 1.44 +/- 0.26 mm Hg for two quadrants buckling (group B), and 2.36 +/- 0.16 mm Hg for radial buckling (group A). Statistically significant differences were recorded between mean preoperative and postoperative OPA in the groups B and C, as well as between mean postoperative OPA and mean OPA of the fellow eyes in the same groups.
Conclusions: Conventional surgery of rhegmatogenous RD using the scleral buckling technique leads to significant ocular circulatory alterations, which are indirectly represented and recorded in the clinical practice by the reduction of the OPA.