Prethy Rao, MD, MPH
Vitreoretinal Surgery Fellow
Associated Retinal Consultants
Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
We had a chance to catch up with Dr. Williams during Retina Subspecialty day about the latest research with the IRIS Registry at the AAO. His talk described the 12 month cumulative reoperation rates in non complex retinal detachments undergoing primary RD repair. The study was a retrospective review of 24,968 patients with an equal number of eyes in the IRIS Registry who underwent a primary retinal detachment repair (67107- scleral buckle only or 67108- vitrectomy +/- scleral buckle) between 2013-2016 and had at least 1 year of postoperative follow up. Patients who underwent an RD repair in the other eye were excluded.
Overall, 40% of patients had either a single break, multiple breaks, or a total retinal detachment at the time of initial surgery. Overall, the rate of reoperation regardless of procedure at 12 months was 12.1%. Interestingly, the rate of reoperation for scleral buckles was 12.2% and 11.8% for vitrectomy +/- scleral buckle.
We asked Dr. Williams about the potential pitfalls of the data, and he suggested that the difficulties still remain in being able to separate the 67108 code into vitrectomy only versus vitrectomy and scleral buckle as well determining the true macula status at the time of surgery. However, future studies remain promising, including evaluating results of complex detachments, pneumatic retinopexy, and eventual anatomic mapping of scleral buckles.
