Minimal Gas Vitrectomy with Scleral Buckle to Minimize Retinal Displacement in Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment with Inferior Breaks.

Abstract

To present a novel technique, minimal gas vitrectomy with scleral buckle (MGV-SB), as a means of potentially minimizing retinal displacement compared to standard vitrectomy or vitrectomy/scleral buckle for select cases. A patient with a right macula off retinal detachment and retinal breaks at 7 o'clock and 10 o'clock underwent a 23-gauge pars plana vitrectomy, localization and cryopexy of the breaks along with an inferior temporal segmental scleral buckle. No air-fluid exchange was performed. Suturing of sclerotomies, anterior chamber paracentesis of 0.3 ml and intravitreal injection of 0.6 mL pure sulfur hexafluoride were then performed. The patient was advised to perform the steamroller maneuver with initial face down positioning for 6 hours. The patient achieved retinal reattachment and post-operative wide-field fundus autofluorescence imaging demonstrated a high integrity retinal attachment (HIRA) with no retinal displacement. The MGV-SB technique has the potential to minimize retinal displacement in cases with inferior break(s) by using a small volume expansile gas tamponade and localized scleral buckle compared to standard vitrectomy or vitrectomy/scleral buckle with a full gas fill.