Purpose: To compare clinical outcomes between pars plana vitrectomy (PPV), scleral buckling (SB), and PPV+SB for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment in the Japan-RD Registry.
Methods: This is a nation-wide, multicenter, observational study based on the registry data between 2016 and 2017. The failure levels were defined as Level 1 (a failure of retinal detachment repair), Level 2 (remaining silicone oil), and Level 3 (multiple surgeries to achieve reattachment). We compared cases treated by SB or PPV in the subgroup of simple rhegmatogenous retinal detachment using multivariate Cox proportional hazard models.
Results: A total of 2,775 cases were included. Overall, 6 months any levels of failure in total, SB, PPV, and PPV+SB were 9.2% (n = 256), 6.9% (n = 48), 8.2% (n = 157), and 21.3% (n = 51), respectively. Poor visual acuity at baseline in SB and inferior rhegmatogenous retinal detachment and larger retinal tear in PPV were associated with a higher risk of failure. Pars plana vitrectomy was associated with a higher chance of achieving primary success in cases with simple RRD, especially for cases with superior RRD (adjusted hazard ratio 3.61, 95% confidence interval 2.22-5.94, P < 0.001).
Conclusion: In this nationwide study, surgical anatomic outcomes were equally successful in either SB or PPV. There were different baseline characteristics associated with primary success between SB and PPV.