Abstract
Purpose: :
To evaluate outcomes of vitreoretinal surgery for diabetic tractional retinal detachment in eyes that received silicone oil versus gas tamponade. More specifically, this study assesses the change in visual acuity and need for re-operation due to re-proliferation in these two groups.
Methods: :
34 patients were evaluated in this retrospective chart review. These eyes were diagnosed with diabetic tractional retinal detachment and were surgically repaired between January 2008 and September 2009 at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary. Of the 44 eyes that were assessed in this study, 28 eyes received silicone oil, while 16 eyes received gas (C3F8 or SF6) tamponade. Clinical data, including patient age, preoperative and postoperative visual acuity, total follow-up, and re-operation, were collected from patient charts. Visual acuity was quantified on a logMAR scale. Statistical evaluation of the data was performed using the data analysis function of Microsoft Excel 2007.
Results: :
The mean age of the 20 patients in the silicone oil group was 48.8 ± 10.7 years, and the mean age of the 14 patients in the gas tamponade group was 53.8 ± 9.1 years. The preoperative visual acuity for silicone oil eyes was 1.75 ± 0.97, and postoperatively the vision was 1.81 ± 1.20 (p ≤ 0.83). The preoperative visual acuity for the gas tamponade eyes was 1.73 ± 1.24, and postoperatively it was 1.45 ± 1.19 (p ≤ 0.52). Of the 28 eyes that received silicone oil, 5 (18%) required re-operation for re-proliferation, while 1 eye (6%) of the 16 that received gas required re-operation. The mean postoperative follow-up time was 14.6 ± 6.7 months for the silicone oil group, while the gas group had a mean follow-up of 15.9 ± 5.0 months.
Conclusions: :
The results of this study revealed a trend towards improved visual acuity in eyes that received gas tamponade relative to silicone oil in the surgical repair of diabetic tractional retinal detachment. The use of gas also led to a lower re-operation rate compared to eyes that received silicone oil.
Keywords: retinal detachment • vitreoretinal surgery • diabetic retinopathy