Retinal detachment surgery: trends over 15 years

Introduction The aim of the study was to investigate the changes in the treatment of patients with retinal detachment over the past 15 years. Method Files of all 5101 patients hospitalized for retinal detachment surgery between January 2005 and March 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. Results The number of retinal detachment surgeries over the past 15 years increased continually from 150 to 600 per annum. During the summer months an increased incidence of retinal detachment of approximately 20% could be observed compared to the winter months. Anatomical success rates of emergency surgery carried out at weekends were not lower than those of scheduled routine procedures performed during the week. The relative proportion of buckle surgery decreased significantly from more than 60% down to 5% between 2005 and 2019. While initially an additional encircling buckle was employed in most cases of primary vitrectomy, this technique has almost completely disappeared in recent years without a deterioration of success rates. Liquid silicone tamponade was applied less frequently over the years. The overall anatomical success rates showed a slight trend towards improved results over the past 15 years. Conclusion The strategies for surgical repair of retinal detachment have changed considerably in recent years: less buckle surgery, more vitrectomy, less add-on encircling buckles and less silicone tamponade. A slight trend towards better anatomical success rates could be observed.