Tug of war: A bimanual technique for anterior circumferential proliferative vitreoretinopathy in recurrent retinal detachment

PURPOSE: To describe a bimanual technique, “tug of war” for managing anterior circumferential proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) in eyes with recurrent retinal detachment (RRD). METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed outcomes from eyes with RRD that underwent reattachment surgery using this maneuver and had a minimum of 6 months follow-up. A chandelier light was inserted for endo-illumination and the circumferential anterior PVR was tackled with two 25-gauge forceps stretching circumferential tractional membranes in opposite direction (tug of war) till they snapped. RESULTS: Eleven eyes of 11 patients with a mean age of 38.2 ± 19.7 years underwent surgery. All eyes had advanced PVR of Grade C A Type 4 (Circumferential). The median duration of RD from the time of first surgery was 6 months (interquartile range = 3–8 months). The tug of war maneuver was successful in relieving the anterior retinal traction leading to retinal reattachment in all eyes without the need for relaxing retinotomies or retinectomies. Small iatrogenic retina tears occurred at the time of tug of war maneuver in 3 (27%) eyes at the site of maximum traction. The mean best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) improved from 1.87 ± 0.2 logarithm of minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) to 1.3 ± 0.4 logMAR at 6-months follow-up (P = 0.04). CONCLUSION: The 'tug of war' maneuver is useful for relieving circumferential anterior traction and reattaching the retina in eyes with RRD without having to resort to large relaxing retinotomies or retinectomies.