Role of prophylactic scleral buckling in the management of retained intraocular foreign bodies.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the role of prophylactic scleral buckling procedure with pars plana vitrectomy for the removal of retained intraocular foreign bodies (RIOFB) in the prevention of postoperative retinal detachment.


METHODS
In a prospective, clinical, controlled study, 28 patients with RIOFB without retinal detachment were randomly divided into two groups of 15 (group I) and 13 (group II) patients. All patients underwent a standard three-port pars plana vitrectomy with foreign body removal. In addition to this standard procedure, patients assigned to group I had a 360 degrees encircling scleral buckle placed at the time of surgery. Group II patients did not have any scleral buckling. All patients were followed up for an average period of 11.8 months. Both groups were comparable with respect to age, sex, duration of injury, nature of injury, and site, size and type of RIOFB.


RESULTS
The retinal detachment rate was found to be 6.6% in group I and 30.8% in group II (P = 0.24). Prophylactic scleral buckling reduced the risk of retinal detachment by 24% but this was not found to be statistically significant.


CONCLUSIONS
Prophylactic scleral buckle placement with pars plana vitreous surgery for RIOFB may reduce the risk of late onset retinal detachment. A larger study would seem warranted.
Azad
Raj Vardhan
RV
Dr Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. rajvardhanazad@hotmail.com
Kumar
Neena
N
Sharma
Yog Raj
YR
Vohra
Rajpal
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D065306:Corneal Injuries; D005129:Eye Foreign Bodies / Q000601:surgery*; D015807:Eye Injuries, Penetrating / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012163:Retinal Detachment / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012590:Sclera / Q000293:injuries; D012591:Scleral Buckling / Q000379:methods*; D014792:Visual Acuity; D014821:Vitrectomy / Q000379:methods*