Abstract
Purpose :
To assess the incidence rate of retinal detachment (RD) after small gauge vitrectomy for epiretinal membrane (ERM).
Methods :
Patients who underwent small gauge pars plana vitrectomy for primary ERM between October 2012 and December 2014 were included. Main outcome was the occurrence of RD after surgery. As a control group, patients who underwent cataract surgery over the same period were also reviewed. Medical operative records provided baseline demographics and any occurrence of complications. All patients were contacted by phone to assess the occurrence of RD during the follow-up period after their surgery.
Results :
Two hundred and seventeen eyes of 212 ERM patients with a mean follow-up of 801.4 ± 198.9 days were included. Hundred and fifty-two vitrectomies and 65 combined procedures were performed in these eyes. A RD occurred in 2 eyes (incidence rate of 0.9%). In the control group, 252 eyes of 189 patients who underwent cataract surgery were included with a mean follow-up of 674.9 ± 108.4 days. The rate of RD was of 0.7% in this group. No statistically significant difference in RD incidence was observed between both groups (p=1).
Conclusions :
The incidence of retinal detachment occurring after small gauge vitrectomy for epiretinal membrane was less than 1%. This rate is lower than those published with older systems and is similar to those reported after other surgeries, including cataract surgery.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.