ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To compare the surgical results between scleral buckling (SB) and pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) for patients with inferior rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) of medium severity. METHODS: Two different types of surgery was performed on patients with inferior RRD of medium severity and divided into group 1 (PPV) and group 2 (SB). The preoperative clinical features, anatomical success rate, and changes of visual acuity (VA) were retrospectively evaluated. RESULTS: Preoperative phakic status in group 2 was statistically significantly high, as compared to the group 1 (p=0.02), but other preoperative clinical features were not different between the 2 groups. The primary surgical success rates were 88% and 92% in group 1 and 2, respectively. The final success rate was 100% in both groups. No statistically significant correlation between surgical method and recurrence was found. The preoperative logMAR VA was 0.96 in group 1 and 0.71 in group 2 and improved postoperatively to 0.42 and 0.40, respectively; these were statistically significant changes. However, the final VA between the 2 groups showed no statistically significant difference. CONCLUSIONS: No statistically significant differences of primary and final success rate between SB and PPV groups were found for inferior RRD associated with medium severity. However, preoperative phakic status could influence the selection of the surgical method for RRD.