Minimally invasive retinal detachment treatment offers patients better outcomes

(c) Mayo Clinic

A minimally invasive treatment for retinal detachment gives patients sharper vision, less distortion and reduced side-effects, according to the findings of a randomized controlled trial. The findings have been published in Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

As per Dr. Rajeev Muni, a retinal surgeon at St. Michael Hospital and a researcher at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute: "Vitrectomy (PPV) is the most commonly offered treatment for a retinal detachment in North America. The results of this study demonstrate that many retinal detachments will have better results for patients with an alternative minimally invasive office procedure such an pneumatic retinopexy (PR). PR also showed better visual outcomes, which is the most important finding of the study — and it should change how most retina specialists treat simple retinal detachments. PR is also significantly less expensive to perform than vitrectomy, and offers significant hope to patients with retinal detachments in developing countries who would otherwise not be able to access or afford retinal care.

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(c) FraserEye

The trial involved 176 patients who were randomly assigned to either PR or PPV after being diagnosed with a retinal detachment. Dr. Muni also highlighted that the trial was the first to demonstrate that PR can minimize visual distortion following retinal detachment repair and potentially avoid the so-called “Picasso effect,” which causes some patients to suffer significant impairments to their vision.

Dr. Hillier and Dr. Muni also have ongoing studies trying to explain specifically why patients with PR seem to have a better quality retinal reattachment, and they expect to present convincing data within the next year that compares the two treatments from an anatomical perspective at the microscopic level.

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