Air versus fluorinated gas tamponades in pars plana vitrectomy treatment for primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment

PURPOSE: To compare the treatment success of air with fluorinated gas (20% SF(6) or 14% C(3)F(8)) tamponade in pars plana vitrectomy for primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study comprised of 1023 consecutive primary retinal detachment cases between 2014 and 2020. We employed a univariate multivariable binary logistic regression model. RESULTS: We used intraocular gas tamponades in 872 cases with PVR grade B or lower: air tamponade was used in 414 eyes and 458 eyes were treated with a type of fluorinated gas tamponade. There was no significant difference in the type of tamponade with regard to the re‐detachment rate (95% CI −1.0% and 4.1%). Additionally, also in the subgroup of rhegmatogenous retinal detachments with inferior located retinal defects we found no significant difference between the two types of tamponade (p = 0.54 Fisher's exact). The multivariable model, which included tamponade, PVR grade, a retinal detachment involving the 6 o'clock position and age as covariates, also showed no significant effect of tamponade choice on treatment success (OR 0.5, 95% 0.2–1.0, p = 0.10). CONCLUSION: We found no difference in treatment success with air tamponade versus fluorinated gas tamponades in the repair of primary retinal detachments, this also includes inferiorly located retinal tears and detachments.