Matthew Peters, Abhishek Sharma, Lawrence Lee, Thomas Moloney

Purpose: To determine surgical outcomes for primary vitrectomy in rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) with and without the use of 360 degree laser retinopexy.

Method: A single centre, retrospective study. Patients undergoing primary vitrectomy for primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. Primary outcomes were single surgery anatomical success (SSAS) and final anatomical success. Secondary outcomes included final log- arithm of the minimum angle of resolution visual acuity, epiretinal membrane formation, cystoid macular oedema development, long term pupil dilation, corneal epithelial issues and number of subsequent vitrectomies.

Results: A total of 196 surgeries by five surgeons were included. One hundred and thirty underwent 360 degree laser retinopexy (360LR) compared to 66 who had laser retinopexy around retinal breaks (LRRB) only. Single surgery anatomical success was 86.2% in the 360LR Group compared to 77.3% in the LRRB Group. Mean final logMAR visual acuity was 0.9 in the 360LR Group compared to 0.6 in the LRRB Group. There was comparable epiretinal membrane/cystoid macular oedema development, pupil complications and corneal complications in each group.

Conclusion: In this cohort, 360LR was associated with improved single surgery anatomical success and Final logMAR visual acuity. No significant associations between 360LR and single surgery anatomical success (p = 0.44), epiretinal membrane formation (p = 0.14), cystoid macular edema development (p = 0.28), or number of subsequent vitrectomies (p = 0.41) were found. Controlling for case complexity, 360LR was significantly associated with lower final anatomical success (p < 0.001) and worse final logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution visual acuity (p < 0.001).