Primary vitrectomy alone for repair of retinal detachments following cataract surgery

Purpose: To report the visual, anatomic, and refractive results of primary vitrectomy alone for the repair of retinal detachments (RD) following cataract surgery. Methods: Retrospective review of office charts and operative reports of 83 eyes. Results: A minimum of 4 months' follow-up was achieved for 78 pseudophakic or aphakic eyes that underwent primary vitrectomy, internal drainage of subretinal fluid, retinopexy, and intravitreal gas injection for RD repair. Anatomic reattachment was achieved in 93.6% of cases after one procedure and in 96.2% eventually. Median preoperative Snellen acuity was 20/200 and increased to 20/25 at final examination. For the 45 eyes with macula-off detachments, 80% achieved final acuities greater than or equal to 20/40. The average refractive change following surgery was -0.11 diopters. Transient postoperative ocular hypertension was seen in 17.9% and proliferative vitreoretinopathy with recurrent RD in 5.1%. Conclusion: Primary pars plana vitrectomy is a highly effective treatment modality for the repair of RD following cataract surgery, and appears to be refractively neutral.