Modified external needle drainage of subretinal fluid in primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment

Purpose: We describe surgical outcomes in a single-surgeon, consecutive series of patients who received scleral buckle placement for primary retinal detachment using a modified external needle drainage technique. Methods: Eighty-two eyes of 80 patients with primary retinal detachment underwent scleral buckle placement with modified external needle drainage. Preoperative, postoperative, and surgical data were collected. Regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between preoperative clinical data and number of surgeries. Results: The retinal detachment most commonly involved 41% to 50% of the retina. Seventy-six eyes (92.7%) were repaired after 1 surgical procedure, 98.8%, after 2 procedures, and 100%, after 3 procedures. No preoperative clinical variables were found to be significantly correlated with the number of surgeries performed. Vision improved an average of 0.3 logarithm of the minimal angle of resolution or 3 lines of vision (P < 0.001). One eye (1.2%) developed a localized subretinal hemorrhage at the drainage site that resolved spontaneously. Conclusions: The modified external needle drainage technique used during scleral buckle placement appears to be safe and effective in patients with primary retinal. detachment.