Sclerotomy-related Retinal Breaks in Vitrectomy for Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy: 20- vs 23-Gauge Systems

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To compare the rate of intraoperative sclerotomy-related retinal breaks (SRRB) between 20- and 23-gauge vitrectomy for proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). METHODS: Medical records of 62 consecutive eyes of 54 patients who underwent 20-gauge pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) and 63 consecutive eyes of 55 patients who received 23-gauge transconjunctival sutureless vitrectomy were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: Three (4.8%) out of 62 eyes in the 20-gauge group had SRRB and 1 (1.6%) eye developed retinal detachment at 4 months postoperatively, while 2 (3.2%) out of 63 eyes in the 23-gauge group had SRRB and 1 (1.6%) eye developed retinal detachment at 3 months postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: There were no significant differences in the rates of sclerotomy-related retinal breaks and sclerotomy-related retinal detachments between 20-gauge PPV and 23-gauge PPV for PDR.