Air tamponade in vitrectomies for primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment caused by superior breaks

The effectiveness of filtered air tamponade for superior retinal breaks was well established. This study was performed to compare the treatment efficacy of pars plana vitrectomies (PPV) with filtered air and silicone oil (SO) for patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) caused by superior breaks with no or mild proliferative vitreoretinopathy. Patients of RRD with superior breaks who underwent PPV with filtered air (Group A) and SO (Group S) tamponade were reviewed retrospectively. Age, gender, laterality, lens status, duration of symptoms, macular status, proliferative vitreoretinopathy grade, use of perfluorocarbon liquid, early and late postoperative complications, follow-up duration were acquired. The primary anatomic reattachment after the first surgery and the final rate of successful reattachment was compared as the main outcome. Secondary outcomes were long-term postoperative best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), rate of deferred cataract removal, surgical complications and total surgery number. The primary anatomic success rate was 88% (14/16 eyes) in Group A and 100% (16/16 eyes) in group S, which was not significantly different (P = .484). Both groups achieved 100% final anatomic success. The rate of cataract removal was 57.1% and 100% (P = .016), and the duration from first surgery to cataract surgery was 231.38 ± 241.23 and 156.36 ± 110.09 days (P = .428) for group A and group S, respectively. The rate of postoperative epiretinal membrane was 21.4% vs 25.0% (P = 1.000). Postoperative BCVA was associated with preoperative BCVA after multiple linear analysis. The primary and final anatomic success rate for PPV with air tamponade and SO in treating RRD with superior breaks were not statistically different. The rate of deferred cataract removal was higher in patients with SO as tamponade.