Resident-performed prophylactic retinopexy and the risk of retinal detachment.
To examine the natural history of retinopexies performed by ophthalmology residents at university-affiliated clinics and to determine the rate of progression to rhegmatogenous retinal detachment.



Charts of patients receiving prophylactic thermal coagulation between 1997 and 2006 were reviewed retrospectively. Outcome measures included subsequent rhegmatogenous retinal detachment and additional prophylactic treatments.



Review of the medical records identified 166 eyes with peripheral retinal lesions treated by residents, with an average follow-up of 2.4 +/- 0.2 years. At presentation, only 43.4% of patients were symptomatic. Two (1.2%) eyes developed rhegmatogenous retinal detachment during follow-up, with each arising in a previously healthy area of retina in a patient with a history of detachment of the fellow retina. Twenty-five eyes (15%) received at least one additional prophylactic procedure.



The rate of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment following prophylactic retinopexy performed by residents at hospital-based clinics is low, supporting this standard practice.
Levin
Marc
M
Department of Ophthalmology, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
Naseri
Ayman
A
Stewart
Jay M
JM