Background: A rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RD) involves pathologic separation of the neural retina from the pigment epithelium because of a hole or break in the retina. Rhegmatogenous RD leads to the loss of visual function and requires prompt surgical therapy.
Objective: Study of the axial length (AL) and anterior chamber depth (ACD) following scleral buckling (SB) for rhegmatogenous retinal detachments (RRD), may help to isolate the preoperative susceptible cases for intraocular pressure (IOP) variations, explain cause of postoperative IOP changes and find a way to optimize postoperative management of these changes.
Patients and Methods: The study was a prospective cohort of 28 patients for whom SB surgery was operated at the Department of Ophthalmology, Zagazig University, Egypt between April 2019 and October 2019. The patients were divided into two groups depending on the extent of scleral buckle used. Group one (encircling group) included patients with RRD indicated for encircling (360ﹾ) scleral buckle. Group two (segmental group) included patients with RRD indicated for segmental circumferential (less than 360ﹾ) scleral buckle.
Results: After placement of encircling buckles at 1 month, IOP (in mmHg) increased from 14 ± 1.18 to 27.64±4.77, ACD (in mm) decreased from 3.66±0.41 to 3.40±0.44 and AL (in mm) increased from 25.56±3.52 to 26.04±0.44 while after placement of segmental buckles, IOP increased from 14 ± 1.24 to 15.79 ± 2.69, ACD decreased from 3.69±0.28 to 3.63±0.26 and AL increased from 25.56±1.30 to 25.65±1.27 at 1 month.
Conclusion: The study revealed that scleral buckling (either encircling or segmental circumferential) induced increase in AL and decrease in ACD.