A retrospective, non-randomized comparative clinical study recently analyzed the reoperation rates of patients who underwent a primary noncomplex retinal detachment repair in a cohort of the AAO’s IRIS Registry. The study included 24,068 patients who had either a scleral buckle (SB) or pars plana vitrectomy with or without scleral buckle between 2013 and 2016. The researchers calculated the odds of reoperation within 12 months.

The researchers identified 2,937 patients (12.2%) who had a scleral buckle and 21,131 patients (87.8%) who had a vitrectomy with or without a scleral buckle. The overall reoperation rate was 12.2% for those with a scleral buckle alone and 11.6% for those with a vitrectomy with or without a scleral buckle. The latter group demonstrated lower odds of reoperation within 12 months compared with the scleral buckle-only group, but the researchers found that age played a significant role. Patients who were 50 or older with a vitrectomy with or without a scleral buckle had higher odds of reoperation than who only had a scleral buckle. Patients younger than 50 with a vitrectomy with or without a scleral buckle had lower odds of reoperation.

The researchers concluded that the odds of reoperation between the groups only varied depending on the patient’s age. They stated that further analysis is required to determine other clinically relevant differences with respect to retinal detachment configuration or retinal detachment repair types, such as vitrectomy-only versus vitrectomy with scleral buckle.