Scleral buckling versus vitrectomy for young japanese patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment in the era of microincision surgery: real-world evidence from a multicentre study in Japan

Purpose: To evaluate real-world evidence for young Japanese patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) by retrospectively examining surgical procedures and clinical outcomes in the Japan Clinical Retina Study group. Methods: This was a multicentre retrospective study of the medical records of 562 young patients (384 males and 178 females; mean age: 33.0 ± 11.8 years) who had been diagnosed with RRD and who underwent surgical procedures in participating centres during the period between April 2013 and August 2016. Results: The selected surgeries were scleral buckling (SB) for 295 eyes (49.7%) and pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) for 262 eyes (44.1%). Between the two surgical procedures, there was no significant difference in the primary anatomical reattachment rate (PARR, SB = 92.2%, PPV = 93.9%); improvements in vision were noted in both groups. The incidences of proliferative vitreoretinopathy and cataract formation within 1 year of PPV were 2.3% (p = 0.0047) and 6.5% (p = 0.0005), whereas they were 0% and 1.0% in the SB group, respectively. Conclusion: Scleral buckling (SB) and PPV were chosen with almost equal frequency for young patients with RRD. Clinical outcomes for SB and PPV exhibited a similar PARR. The incidence of cataract formation after PPV may constitute an important limitation of the procedure.