Complete subretinal fluid drainage is not necessary during vitrectomy surgery for macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment with peripheral breaks a prospective, nonrandomized comparative interventional study

Purpose: To compare clinical outcomes in eyes with macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachments managed by surgical protocols, the result in either complete (CSFD) or partial subretinal fluid drainage (PSFD). Methods: Fifty-four eyes with macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachments with peripheral retinal breaks of 54 patients were assigned prospectively to one of the two surgical designs (PSFD or CSFD, 2:1) in a sequence. Patients were treated with 25-gauge plus vitrectomy, either CSFD (n = 18) or PSFD (n = 36), and 14% C3F8 was used for intraocular tamponade. Anatomical and visual outcomes as well as intraoperative and postoperative complications of the two groups were compared. Results: The single-operation success rates were 16/18 (88.9%) and 33/36 (91.6%), respectively, for the CSFD and the PSFD groups (P = 1.00). The mean BCVA improvement (Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study letters) at the 6-month postoperative was not significantly different between the two groups (26.50 ± 15.43 in CSFD group vs. 22.64 ± 15.43 in PSFD group, P = 0.43). Conclusion: Partial subretinal fluid drainage procedure during vitrectomy for the repair of macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachments revealed comparable results with CSFD in terms of anatomical and visual outcomes. Complete subretinal fluid drainage during vitrectomy seems to be unnecessary for all RRD reattachment surgical procedures.